ABSTRACT
To determine the effect of aqueous extract of walnut leaves on lipid profile i.e. serum total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol triglycerides, LDL/HDL and atherogenic ratio [Total Cholesterol/HDL] ofhypercholesterolemicrats. Study Design: An experimental randomized control study. The study was conducted at Islamic International Medical College, Riphah International University, with assistance from National Institute of Health, Riphah Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Citilab, Islamabad, Pakistan. The duration of study was one year from April 2014 to March 2015. A total of 30 male Sprague Dawley rats were included in the study. They were divided into 3 groups i.e. ten rats in each group. Group l [Control group], Group 2 [Hyper-cholesterolemic control], Group 3 [Aqueous group] treated with aqueous extract of walnut leaves after induction of hypercholesterolemia in a dose of [200mg/kg] through gavage needle once daily, for four weeks. Blood sampling was done at the beginning [baseline], end of week 8, and end of week 12 to perform lipid profile, LDL/HDL and atherogenic ratios TC/HDL-cholesterol. Statistical analysis was applied by using SPSS version 17. All data was shown as mean +/- SD and Student t test was applied between groups, p value of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Hyper-cholesterolemic rats after treatment with aqueous extract [Group 3] had significantly lower levels [p<0.001] of serum cholesterol, low density lipoprotein and triglycerides while significantly high [p<0.001] levels of HDL-Cholesterol with significantly reduced [p<0.001]TC/HDL-Ch. Aqueous extract of walnut leaves has hypo-lipidemic effect on serum total cholesterol, LDL-Cholesterol and triglycerides. It reduces TC/HDL, LDL/HDL ratios whereas it significantly increases the level of HDL-Cholesterol