bunium persicum essential oil modulates lipid profile in hyperlipidemic rats: focus on hdl enhancement and atherogenic risk reduction

Hyperlipidemia is a pivotal modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (cvd), contributing to atherosclerosis and related complications worldwide (jain et al., 2007; chenni et al., 2007) . despite advances in pharmacotherapy, natural alternatives with fewer side effects are increasingly essential. in this study, we explored the hypolipidemic potential of bunium persicum essential oil (bpeo), derived from a medicinal plant traditionally used in iranian folk medicine (jalilzadeh-amin et al., 2011), in a rat model of diet-induced hyperlipidemia. lovastatin served as the positive control to benchmark efficacy. bpeo was obtained through hydrodistillation using a clevenger apparatus. for the animal feeding, a standard commercial chow was used as the base diet. this powdered feed served as the basis for preparing the high-fat diet in the laboratory. the hyperlipidemia-inducing diet consisted of the following components: standard chow (47%), cholesterol (2%), sodium cholate (1%), dextrose (40%), and olive oil (10%), formulated into a solid cake. forty-two male wistar rats were divided into six groups (n=6 each): normal control, hyperlipidemic control (fed a 2% cholesterol diet), lovastatin-treated (10 mg/kg), and bpeo-treated at doses of 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg. hyperlipidemia was induced over 21 days, followed by 14 days of oral treatment (jalilzadeh-amin et al., 2017). serum lipids—including total cholesterol (tc), triglycerides (tg), high-density lipoprotein (hdl), and low-density lipoprotein (ldl) were measured, alongside atherogenic indices (tc/hdl ratio, ldl/hdl ratio, and atherogenic index). our results demonstrated dose-dependent benefits of bpeo. all doses significantly elevated hdl levels compared to the hyperlipidemic control (p<0.05), with the 20 mg/kg dose yielding the greatest increase (32.7%). notably, only the highest dose reduced ldl by 28.4% (p<0.05), approaching lovastatin 34.1% reduction. atherogenic indices improved across all bpeo groups: tc/hdl ratio decreased by 18.9-26.3%, ldl/hdl ratio by 22.1-30.8%, and atherogenic index by 24.7-33.5% (p<0.05). however, unlike lovastatin, which lowered tc and tg (p<0.05), bpeo did not significantly affect these parameters (p>0.05). in conclusion, although bunium persicum essential oil (bpeo) does not completely reverse diet-induced hyperlipidemia, its significant hdl-raising and atheroprotective properties—particularly at the 20 mg/kg dose—underscore its potential as a cardioprotective agent. this effect may be attributed to the presence of bioactive compounds such as flavonoids, which enhance ldl receptor activity and promote reverse cholesterol transport, as well as antioxidant components that inhibit lipid peroxidation and reduce oxidative stress (baum et al., 1998; sierens et al., 2002). unlike statins, which primarily target ldl reduction, bpeo’s hdl-centric action supports its use as a complementary therapy for managing dyslipidemia. future studies should focus on isolating and characterizing key bioactive constituents (e.g., cuminaldehyde, γ-terpinene), evaluating their effects on endothelial function, and assessing long-term impacts on atherosclerosis progression in vivo.