The present study was carried out to evaluate the hypolipidemic activity of aqueous extract of Costus afer stems in diet induced hyperlipidemic rats. Wistar albino male rats (100-135g) were randomly distributed into 5 groups of 12 rats each. Group I received water and normal diet. Groups II, III, IV and V were fed with high fat diet (10g eggyolk/day) for 2 weeks while Groups III, IV, and V had in addition to the hyperlipidemic diets 400, 800 and 1600 mg/kg aqueous Costus afer extract for another 4 weeks. The body weights and plasma lipid profiles were measured at specific intervals (2 weeks). Results showed that the rats in all the groups gained weight: 19.44% for group I (Normal control), 104% for group II (Hyperlipidemic control), 45.45%, 40% and 57.43% for groups III, IV and V respectively. Treatment with Costus afer extract showed a significant (p<0.05) reduction in body weight, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol and atherogenic index and a significant (p<0.05) increase in the serum HDL-Cholesterol of treated groups when compared to untreated hyperlipidemic control rats (Group II). In addition, the extract reduced the liver microvesicular steatosis in hyperlipidemic rats. The present study demonstrates that Costus afer extract possesses significant lipid lowering activity in diet induced hyperlipidemia, thus suggesting its beneficial role in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
