Author(s)

Alma M. Zetina-Esquivel¹, Carlos A. Tovilla-Zárate², Crystell Guzmán-Garcia¹, Arturo Rodríguez-Hernández³, Andrés E. Castell-Rodríguez⁴, Jorge L. Ble-Castillo¹, Angela Avila-Fernandez¹, Isela E. Juárez-Rojop^1*, Juan C. Díaz-Zagoya⁴

¹Centro de Investigación, División Académica de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Villahermosa, México.
²División Académica Multidisciplinaria de Comalcalco, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Comalcalco, México.
³Unidad de Medicina Familiar 10, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Xalapa, México.
⁴División de Investigación, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D. F., México.

Hyperlipidemia plays an important role in the development of atherosclerosis, the main cause of death in the world. In this study, the lipid-lowering effect of Carica papaya leaf in rats fed with a high cholesterol diet was evaluated. Daily doses of C. papaya extract 0, 31, 62 or 125 mg/kg body weight were orally administered in 300 μl polyethylene glycol to hypercholesterolemic rats; it was also administered 62 mg/kg body weight of the extract to rats with normal diet. After a 20-day treatment, the animals were sacrificed; blood and liver were analyzed. Hypercholesterolemic rats showed an increased serum and liver cholesterol, triacylglycerols, and atherogenic index. The C. papaya extract produced a significant decrease of serum and liver cholesterol concentrations in hypercholesterolemic rats, but did not modify serum or liver triacylglycerols; however, the extract reduced the atherogenic index in a dose-dependent manner. C. papaya treatment decreased LDL-C and increased HDL-C in serum significantly. When the oxygen consumption was evaluated in phosphorylating and resting states, the respiratory control in hypercholesterolemic rats mitochondria was lower than in normal diet rats. However, a higher respiratory control in hypercholesterolemic rats mitochondria was observed after C papaya treatment. The liver morphological data are in accordance with serum and liver biochemical values. Our data support that C. papaya has a significant hypocholesterolemic action and HDL-C raising effect on rats fed with a cholesterol-rich diet, however, the precise metabolites responsible of this effect remain unknown.

Serum Lipids, Carica papaya, Cholesterol, Mitochondria

Zetina-Esquivel, A. , Tovilla-Zárate, C. , Guzmán-Garcia, C. , Rodríguez-Hernández, A. , Castell-Rodríguez, A. , Ble-Castillo, J. , Avila-Fernandez, A. , Juárez-Rojop, I. and Díaz-Zagoya, J. (2015) Effect of Carica papaya Leaf Extract on Serum Lipids and Liver Metabolic Parameters of Rats Fed a High Cholesterol Diet. Health, 7, 1196-1205. doi: 10.4236/health.2015.79134.