The effectiveness of peperomia pellucida (l.) extract in modulating cholesterol levels in high-fat diet-induced dyslipidemic wistar rats

Abstract Background and Aims Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD), characterized by abnormal blood lipid levels. The prevalence of CHD in Indonesia reaching 1.5% in 2018. The Peperomia pellucida L. is a weed containing active compounds such as flavonoids which have potential as natural hypolipidemic agents. This Research aims to confirmed the potential of Peperomia pellucida L. extract to lower total cholesterol, LDL, and triglyceride (TG) levels and increase HDL levels and analyze the effectiveness of various doses of Peperomia pellucida L. extract on the lipid profile in a high-fat diet-induced animal model using male Wistar rats. Methods This was an in vivo Experimental study with a post-test only control group design used 30 rats divided into five groups: Negative Control (KN), Positive Control (KP), P1 (300 mg/kgBW), P2 (600 mg/kgBW), and P3 (900 mg/kgBW). Data were analyzed using One-Way ANOVA (α=0.05) and Tukey’s HSD post-hoc test. Results One-Way ANOVA showed highly significant differences (p=0.000) in total cholesterol (F=14.155), LDL (F=13.019). and HDL (F=8.088), Post-hoc tests showed that the P2 group (600 mg/kgBW) was the most optimal dose, significantly decreasing total cholesterol (74.66 mg/dL), LDL (27.66 mg/dL), and increasing HDL (47.33 mg/dL).However, there was no significant difference in triglyceride levels across all groups (p=0.279). The high dose (900 mg/kgBW) showed a decrease in effectiveness across all lipid parameters. Conclusion Peperomia pellucida L. extract is effective in improving total cholesterol, LDL, and HDL levels with an optimal dose of 600 mg/kgBW, but it does not significantly affect triglyceride levels.