DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2016.v04i10.016

Pages: 886-891

Cashew leaves (Anacardium occidentale) is a medicinal plant applied in the treatment of some non-scientific claims of common diseases in South-Western Nigeria such as hypertension . It contains phytochemicals such as Phenolic, flavonoids, steroids, triterpenes and 33.52% to 46.26% of dietary fiber. This work was therefore designed to determine the Cholesterol Lowering Effect of Cashew leaf (Anacardium occidentale) extract on Egg Yolk Induced Hypercholesterolaemic Rabbits. Fifteen rabbits classified into control group A of five rabbits; experimental group B induced with hypercholesterolemia using 20% egg yolk(B1) and thereafter given cashew leaf ethanolic extract(B2) and group C of five rabbits induced with hypercholesterolemia using 20% egg yolk(C1) thereafter treated with the aqueous extract of cashew leaf(C2). Outcomes of biochemical evaluation of experimental rabbits were compared with the control rabbits. Plasma Total cholesterol(CHOL-T), Low Density Lipoprotein-cholesterol(LDL-C),Total Triglycerides(TG-T), High Density Lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) were evaluated in the rabbits by autoanalysis using ROCHE reagent on COBAS C111 autoChemistry analyzer. There was a significant increase in plasma total cholesterol, LDL-C, total triglycerides and HDL-C when the rabbits were fed with normal meal containing 20% of powdered egg yolk of the total meal weight with water for seven days compared with control rabbits fed on normal diet and water for 7 days with p<0.05. A significant decrease was also obtained in plasma Total cholesterol and Total triglycerides in the rabbits given 400mg/Kg of either ethanolic or aqueous extract of cashew leaves extract after they were being given 20% of powdered egg yolk of the total meal weight plus water for seven days which was more in ethanolic extract than the aqueous extract with p<0.05. There was also a significantly lower LDL-C in rabbits fed with normal meal containing 20% of powdered egg yolk of the total meal we