Effect of Carica papaya Leaf Extract on Serum Lipids and Liver Metabolic Parameters of Rats Fed a High Cholesterol Diet

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.

DOI: 10.4236/health.2015.79134                

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Serum Lipids, Carica papaya, Cholesterol, Mitochondria

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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