ANTIHYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIC EFFECT OF Arcangelisia flava STEM EXTRACT IN HYPERLIPIDEMIC RATS

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases especially coronary heart disease (CHD) is the main disease cause death in the world. The mortality rate of CHD (26.4%) is higher than the mortality rate of cancer (6%). Indonesian Health Department in 2002 reported that one of four people were died due to CHD. Hyperlipidemia is a major risk factor for CHD. Hyperlipidemia is lipid metabolism disorder characterized by an elevation of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol 1 . Arcangelisia flava Merr is a plant belongs to Menispesmaceae family, comonly known as yellow root. A flava is Indonesian medicinal plant that have been used traditionally for malaria, diabetes mellitus (DM), urinary stones, jaundice, diarrhea and skin abscess 2,3,4 .The water extract of A. flava showed antimicrobial activity 5 . Methanolic extract of A. flava has antioxidant and cytotoxic effect against brine shrimps and breast cancer cells (MCF-7) 4 . The Ethyl acetate fraction of A. flava have been proven to reduce blood sugar level of diabetic rats 6 . The major chemical compounds of stem of A. flava is alkaloid including berberine, palmatine, jathorrizine and columbamime 7 . Flavonoid, saponin, tanin and furanoditerpene are other compounds of A. flava . Berberine isolated from Coptis sinensis can decrease total cholesterol and triglycerides by increasing expression of the hepatic low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR)9.