Effects of ginseng on TNF-α, leptin and plasma lipid levels of rats fed a cholesterol-rich diet

This study assessed the effects of ginseng root powder on plasma total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, leptin, and TNF-α levels of adult rats fed a cholesterol-rich diet. In this study, 48 healthy adult male Wistar Albino rats were divided into three groups: a control group (K), a cholesterol group (C), and a cholesterol+ginseng group (CG). The K group was fed a standard rat diet, whereas the C and CG groups were fed the same standard diet containing 5% cholesterol and 5% cholesterol+1 g/kg Panax ginseng root powder, respectively. Blood samples were taken on days 20 and 40 of the study. On days 20 and 40, the CG group had lower plasma total cholesterol levels than the C group (p 0.05). On day 20, there were no significant differences in plasma LDL-cholesterol levels between the CG and K groups. The reduction in plasma trygliceride levels (day 20), the increase in plasma HDL-cholesterol levels (day 20) and the decrease in plasma leptin levels (day 40) in the CG group compared to the C group were significant (p 0.05). However, there were no differences in TNF-α plasma levels on days 20 or 40 both between sampling times and among the groups. The results of this study support the use of ginseng to ameliorate abnormalities in serum lipid levels.