Anti-hypercholesterolemic effect of Zingiber montanum extract

Background: High cholesterol levels (hypercholesterolemia) has been recognized to cause various disease, most notably the cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately, most anti-hypercholesterolemic drugs deliver several side effects for patients, by which medicinal plants have begun to attract attention for treating hypercholesterolemia. Among others, Zingiber montanum (J.König) Link ex A.Dietr. has traditionally been taken for treating health problems caused by high cholesterol levels. Hence, this work aimed at investigating anti-hypercholesterolemic effects offered by the plant. Methods: This study was conducted on 30 male Wistar rats. During experiments, the subjects were divided into 6 groups (n=5), i.e. no treatment (Group 1, control); high-fat diet (Group 2, control); high-fat diet with simvastatin (Group 3); high-fat diet with plant extracts (Group 4-6 with 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg BW, respectively). After 4 weeks of treatments, blood samples were collected from each group. Then, plasma concentrations of triglycerides, total cholesterol, high density lipoproteins (HDL), and low density lipoproteins (LDL) were measured. Results: There were significant differences in total cholesterol (p=0.000), LDL (p=0.000) and triglycerides (p=0.001) for Groups 4-6 (high-fat diet treated with different plant extract doses) in comparison with Group 2 (high-fat diet, control). Meanwhile, there were no significant differences in HDL levels (p=0.830) between Group 2 (high-fat diet, control) and other groups. The results also showed significant differences in total cholesterol and LDL for subjects treated with plant extracts (Group 4, 100 mg/kg BW, p=0.000;  Group 5, 200 mg/kg BW, p=0.000; Group 6, 400 mg/kg BW, p=0.000) compared to Group 2 (high-fat diet, control). Then, treatments with 400 mg/kg BW (Group 6) discovered significant reductions in total cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides (p=0.030). Conclusion: Therefore, Z. montanum has been discovered to deliver anti-hypercholesterolemic effects to experimental subjects, making it potential to act as a natural source of anti-hypercholesterolemic agents.