EFFECT OF GARCINIA CAMBOGIA EXTRACT ON HEART OF RATS FED HIGH LIPID DIET

Many plants had been used as raw materials in drug development. One of them is a tropical plant native to Southeast Asia, named Garcinia cambogia. The extract obtained from Garcinia cambogia fruits presents hypolipidemic properties, which arise from its high flavonoid content. The aim of the study was to validate the ability of HCA-containing Garcinia cambogia extract and flavonoids on cardiac lipid and protein metabolism in old and obese rats fed high lipid diet. Thirty female, one-year-old Sprague-Dawley rats were used and separated into three equal groups. Group I (control group) was fed basal diet, while the diets of both group 2 and 3 contained vegetable oil and cholesterol (3%). 4.5 % Garcinia cambogia extract was added to the diet of group 3 from day 45. At the end of 75 days trial period, heart samples of all animals were promptly excised and homogenized. Cardiac total protein, triglyceride and cholesterol concentrations were determined in post-mitochondrial fractions of the samples. The administration of diets containing vegetable oil (10%) and cholesterol (1.5%) in high levels in group 2 caused an insignificant increase in triglyceride and cholesterol levels of heart compared with control group. Also feeding with 4.5% Garcinia cambogia extract added to the diet and starting on day 45 caused an insignificant decrease in triglyceride and cholesterol levels in group 3 compared with group 2. Levels of cardiac total protein showed no significances between groups. All these findings suggest that there is a suppressive effect of HCA-containing Garcinia cambogia extract on cardiac lipid and protein metabolism in rats fed high lipid diet. According to these results, Garcinia cambogia can be recommended as a therapeutic agent against coronary heart disease by reducing cardiac triglyceride and cholesterol levels.