the effects of piper guineense versus sesamum indicum aqueous extracts on lipid metabolism and antioxidants in hypercholesterolemic rats

background: piper guineense (pg) and sesamum indicum (si) have been shown to be rich sources of antioxidants and other health benefits; hence, we evaluated the impact of its consumption in hypercholesterolemic model on lipid metabolism. methods: forty-eight animals were divided into eight groups of six rats each. rats were given cholesterol (40 mg/0.3ml), pg and si extract (100 and 200 mg/kg), and questran (0.26 g/kg) orally, five times a week for 28 days. lipid profile, hepatic antioxidant status, biomarkers of liver toxicity, and tissue histopathology were examined. data were analyzed using one-way anova and p<0.05 were considered statistically significant. results: cholesterol feeding caused 100% gain in weight, significantly increased ast, lpo (p=0.41 and 0.002) but significantly decreased sod (p=0.003) compared to control. chpg(1)/(2) and chsi(1)/(2) caused a significant decrease (p=0.01, 0.005, 0.003, and 0.023) in cholesterol-induced body-weight gain and decreased serum total cholesterol by 20-30% compared to untreated-hypercholesterolemic rats. triglyceride and ldl-c decreased with extract administration and specifically hdl-c increased significantly (p=0.000) by chsi(1) compared to untreated-hypercholesterol rats. furthermore, an increase in hdl-c was higher (p=0.04 and 0.002) by si compared to pg at both doses. conclusion: these results indicate that pg and si exerts a hypolipidemic effect, reduces cholesterol intake induced body weight gain, and increases the body’s antioxidant defense system in experimental hypercholesterolemia.