Hypolipidemic and antioxidant potential of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) leaf in mice fed on a high-fat diet.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the antioxidant and hypolipidemic potential of bitter gourd (BG) leaf ethanol extract (LE) in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). Fifty mice were randomly separated into five groups with 10 animals of each group. The animals received normal diet (NC), HFD diet (HF), 200mg/kg/day LE with HFD (LLE), 400 mg/kg/day LE with HFD (MLE), 800mg/kg/day LE with HFD (HLE), respectively. After six weeks, HF group showed meaningfully (P<0.05) increased body weight, fat index, serum lipid and oxidant stress compared to NC group. However, serum TC, TG and LDL-c concentrations were lower in all LE treated groups compared with HF group (P<0.05). In addition to LLE group, HLD-c levels in LE treated groups were higher that that in HF group (P<0.05). Moreover, LE attenuated significantly (P<0.05) the MDA content and elevated the SOD activities of the liver tissues in a dose effect relationship. The histopathological examination confirmed the hepatoprotective effect of LE against liver damage induced by HFD. These findings illustrate that bitter gourd leaves may be valuable for preventing hyperlipidemia and oxidative stress induced by HFD.