Hypolipidemic effect ofAlpinia galanga (Rasna) andKaempferia galanga (Kachoori)

The rhizome of bothAlpinia galanga andKaempferia galanga are widely used in the Ayurvedic system of medicine in the treatment of various inflammatory diseases, diabetes mellitus and obesity. Present study evaluated the hypolipidemic action of the ethanolic extract of these plantsin vivo. The oral administration of the extracts (20mg/day) of bothA. galanga andK. galanga effectively lowered the serum and tissue levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids and significantly increased the serum levels of high density lipoproteins(HDL) in high cholesterol fed white wistar rats over a period of 4 weeks. The results are indicative of these plants in various lipid disorders especially atherosclerosis.