Effectiveness of Ethanol Extract of Kluwih (Artocarpus camansi) Leaves on Total Cholesterol in Rats Given a High-Fat Diet and Streptozotocin

Leaves of Artocarpus camansi (kluwih) are used in Indonesian folk medicine, but their effect on blood lipids, which are often disturbed in type 2 diabetes, is untested in vivo. This study evaluated an ethanol extract of A. camansi leaves in rats given a high-fat diet followed by low-dose streptozotocin. Thirty male rats formed six groups (n = 5): normal, vehicle, simvastatin, and extract at 300, 350 or 400 mg/kg daily for 14 days. Total cholesterol, measured on days 0, 14, 21, 28 and 35, rose from 43–48 to 127–141 mg/dL after induction. The extract then lowered it by a mean of 57.2%, 48.0% and 43.5% at the three doses, against 64.9% for simvastatin, while vehicle rats kept rising (group × time interaction, p < 0.001). At 300 mg/kg, final total cholesterol (53.4 ± 5.1 mg/dL) did not differ from the normal or simvastatin groups. Its active constituents remain unquantified.