UK Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biosciences Published its Most Recent Issue; Vol 3 (2)

1. UK Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biosciences Vol. 3(2), 10-14, 2015 RESEARCH ARTICLE
Evaluation of Anti-Atherosclerotic Activity of Virgin Coconut Oil in Male Wistar Rats
Against High Lipid and High Carbohydrate Diet Induced Atherosclerosis
Shariq B*, Zulhabri O, Hamid K, Sundus B, Mehwish H, Sakina R, Jiyauddin K, Kaleemullah M, Samer
AD, Rasha S
Managemant and Science University, 40100 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Article Information
Received 9 January 2015
Received in revised form 8 April 2015
Accepted 10 April 2015
Abstract
The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of virgin coconut oil (VCO) on high lipid diet (HLD)
and high carbohydrate diet (HCD) induced atherosclerosis in male Wistar rats.
Spectrophotometer was used to determine the lipid parameters by enzymatic endpoint method.
The plasma total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels
were measured using commercial enzymatic kits. The results showed that feeding with normal
and VCO diet significantly decrease (p<0.05) body weight when compared to the control group
rats. Body weight and lipid profile were estimated after 8 weeks of treatment. VCO showed a
significant (p<0.05) reduction in TC, TG, Low density lipoprotein (LDL), Very low density
lipoprotein (VLDL) levels and significant (p<0.05) increase in HDL in HCD /HLD group rats. There
was significant decrease in atherogenic index (AI) (p<0.05) of all VCO treated groups when
compared to the Control group. Hence, there was increase in the percentage of protection in
VCO treated animals after 8 weeks.The decrease of lipid profiles in the experimental rats showed
that VCO possesses anti-atherosclerotic activity.
Keywords:
Virgin coconut oil,
Atherosclerosis,
Diet,
Atherogenic index
*
Corresponding Author:
E-mail: hmshariqbaber@gmail.com
Tel.: 0060-1126270763
1 Introduction
Atherosclerosis is an arterial disease caused by chronic
inflammatory response of white blood cells. The atheroma contains
remnants of cellular debris in the form of dead cells, triglycerides,
cholesterol and calcium in the crystallized form. LDL carrying
triglycerides and cholesterol promote the atherogenesis, while the
functional HDL prevents the hardening of arteries by reducing the
formation of arterial atheromatous plaques. Atherosclerosis remains
asymptomatic for many decades; hence, it is called clinically silent
disease, as the person suffering from this arterial disorder does not
know about any drastic changes in arteries. Atherosclerosis is the
leading cause of myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure and
coronary artery disease (CAD) 1
. CAD and atherosclerosis causes
many deaths in developed countries2
. Atherosclerosis develops
progressively in elastic and muscular arteries3
, of medium and large
sized characterized by focal intimal lesions called atheromas or
atherosclerotic plaques that protrude into vessel lumen and
eventually leading to various complications4
.There are a number of
environmental, genetic and metabolic factors involved in the
formation and evolution of the atherosclerotic plaque5
.
Practicing regular exercise and stopping smoking alleviates
cardiovascular diseases including atherosclerosis. Diet change helps
to prevent the development of atherosclerosis. It is suggested that
Mediterranean diet containing fiber food and unsaturated oils
improves cardiovascular outcomes and is better than a low fat diet.
Studies show that herbs, spices and diets rich in fruits and
vegetables result in less number of cardiovascular diseases and
deaths6
.
Virgin coconut oil consists of 92% of saturated, 6% of
monounsaturated and 2% of polyunsaturated fatty acids. 10% long
chain and 90% medium chain saturated fatty acids constitute the
virgin coconut oil7
. These fatty acids are easily absorbed and used
as energy for metabolism, thus increasing the metabolic activity,
hence, it can help protect the body from disease and accelerate
healing8
.
UK Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biosciences
Available at www.ukjpb.com
ISSN: 2347-9442

2. Shariq et al. Evaluation of Anti-Atherosclerotic Activity of Virgin Coconut Oil
UK J Pharm & Biosci, 2015: 3(2); 11
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of
VCO, and to analyze its protective effect against the risk factors of
atherosclerosis i.e., TC, HDL, LDL, VLDL, TG in rats, fed with HCD
and HLD.
2 Material and Methods
2.1 Experimental animal
The study was approved by animal ethics committee of the
management and science university (MSU), Shah Alam, Malaysia.
VCO was purchased from Organic Gain Sdn. Bhd., Bandar Baru
Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. The pellets BR-II were used as the
animal food. Sixty male Wistar rats weighing 200-220 g of 2 months
old were obtained from the Laboratory Animal House of the
University. Animals were randomly divided equally into Six
experimental groups comprising of ten animals each (n =10 per
group). After 2 weeks of acclimatization, each group of rats was fed
on the following diets: Group 1 was fed the normal pellet diet
(control), Group 2 was administered normal diet with VCO (1
ml/day), Group 3 named as HCD received bread with pellet, Group 4
animals received HCD bread and pellet with VCO (1 ml/day), Group
5 called as HLD animals received cheese with pellet, Group 6 named
HLD animals received cheese and pellet with VCO (1 ml/day). All
groups had free access to diets and water ad libitum for 10 weeks.
2.2 Determination of dosage and VCO delivery
VCO was administered by oral gavage at a dose of 1.42 ml/kg
according to the minimal recommended dose of 10ml/per day in
humans9
. VCO given to human therapy is 3 tablespoons or equal to
45 ml/day10
. When converted to rat, it was 0.018 X 45 = 0.81 ml/200
g BW/day or equal to 1.09 ml/270 g BW/day. In this study dose was
1 ml/day/270 g BW.
2.3 Plasma lipid analyses
Spectrophotometer was used to measure the blood cholesterol
levels by Enzymatic Endpoint Method11
. The plasma TC, TGand HDL
levels were measured using commercial enzymatic kits (Human
Gesellschaft fur biochemical und Diagnostic ambh, Germany). LDL
was estimated by Friedewald equation:
LDL (mg/dl) = TC−HDL−TG/512
VLDL level was calculated using the following equation:
VLDL (mg/dl) = TG/5
Atherogenic Index was calculated by using the formula13
.
Atherogenic Index (AI) = Total Cholesterol – HDL/HDL
Percentage of protection was calculated based on Dhandapani R14
.
2.4 Statistical analysis
Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS for Windows version
21. Mean values of the findings were compared among and between
groups. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and unpaired„t‟ test was
performed to assess the significance among the groups and between
groups respectively. Pearson correlation coefficient test was
performed to evaluate the correlation of biochemical parameters with
the severity of atherosclerosis. „p‟ value <0.05 was considered
significant.
3 Results
3.1 Body weight in albino Wistar rats
There was significant decrease in body weight of the (Normal +VCO)
treated group (188.32 g±12.08) when compared to the normal
control group (266.80 g ± 18.51) at week 8 (Table 1).
Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein
(HDL), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and low density
lipoprotein (LDL), N-normal, VCO-virgin coconut oil, HCD-high
carbohydrate diet, HLD-high lipid diet.
Table 1: The effect of virgin coconut oil on Body Weight (WT),
Atherogenic index (AI) and percentage of protection in diet-
induced atherogenic albino wistar rats after 8 weeks
Groups Wt (g) Week 8 (AI) Week 8 Protection (%)
Control (N) 266.55±11.34 3.19±0.05 --
N+VCO 187.45±7.33* 0.50±0.15* 84.32%
HCD 274.61±2.87 2.54±0.26 --
HCD+VCO 218.43±4.38 0.63±0.15* 59.87%
HLD 285.50±2.84 3.13±0.15 --
HLD+VCO 196.16±34.48 1.17±0.14* 64.26%
F 7.759 56.067
P <0.000 <0.000
Atherogenic index in ratio
3.2 Lipid profile
Plasma TC, TG, VLDL and LDLlevels were found to be significantly
increased in rats fed with normal diet, HCD and HLD at the end of
8weeks.A significant reduction in TC, TG, VLDL and LDL levels was
observed with all treated VCO (1mg/day) used groups i.e. N+VCO,
HCD+VCO and HLD+VCO.Data also show that rats fed with N, HCD
and HLD diet had significant decrease in plasma level of HDL at

3. Shariq et al. Evaluation of Anti-Atherosclerotic Activity of Virgin Coconut Oil
UK J Pharm & Biosci, 2015: 3(2); 12
p<0.05 as compared to the rats fed with N+VCO, HCD+VCO and
HLD+VCO (Table 2).
3.4 Atherogenic index (AI)
Tabulated results demonstrated that the VCO treated all animal
groups showed the significantly decrease (p<0.05) in the AI when
compared to the control groups and increase in the percentage of
protection in all VCO treated groups after week 8 (Table 2).
4 Discussions
So far there had been no solid foundation and scientific evidence
suggesting that VCO possessed any anti-atherosclerotic activity. In
present study, the anti-atherosclerotic activity of VCO was evaluated
in rats receiving HLD and HCD. Determination of body weight in
experimentally induced atherosclerosis is considered to be a positive
factor to find out the prognosis of disease15
. Results indicated
increase in body weight of animals from the beginning to the end of
the experiment in all six groups, but at the end, increase in body
weight is low in VCO treated groups as compared to control group. In
this study, it was found that food intake in the VCO diet was lower
compared to the control group. However, we observed that there
was no significant difference in body weight between the HCD, HLD
diet and the normal control group at 8 weeks. Leong et al showed
the same result16
, although the food intake of VCO and control diet
was same, yet, the VCO diet group was found to have decreased
body weight compared to the control group at 8 weeks. HLD+VCO
diet group experienced reduced body weight compared to the control
group at 8 weeks. This illustrates that VCO administration decreases
the body weight. Studies show that VCO reduces the abdominal
obesity in human beings17, 18
.
Table 2: Effect of Virgin coconut oil on plasma lipid profile in diet-induced atherogenic albino Wistar rats after 8 weeks
Groups TC (mg/dl) week 8 TG (mg/dl) week 8 HDL(mg/dl) week 8 VLDL(mg/dl) week 8 LDL(mg/dl) week 8
Control (N) 80.25±1.30 213.40±43.56 11.02±0.40 42.67±8.71 11.86±1.87
N+VCO 53.99±7.96 78.85±13.06 36.51±3.76 15.76±2.61 2.40±0.03
HCD 103.34±1.16* 212.08±8.58 29.16±0.31* 44.61±0.64 42.99±1.35*
HCD+VCO 75.41±3.07 115.44±4.30 46.08±3.61* 23.08±0.86 11.07±5.52
HLD 110.41±26.83 223.97±69.40 22.82±1.18* 44.79±13.88 51.74±3.90*
HLD+VCO 75.78±4.56 109.75±28.67 36.30±1.72* 21.94±5.73 32.07±9.29
F 3.119 3.191 28.300 3.415 17.157
P <0.049 <0.046 <0.000 <0.038 <0.000
Values are expressed as MEAN ± SEM; n=5 P < 0.05, * Significant difference from control group at P< 0.05
Results in the present study revealed that rats on HCD and HLD diet
showed a significant increase in plasma TC, TG, LDL, VLDL and a
significant decrease in HDL compared with normal rats(p < 0.05).
Our observation was consistent with the reports of Azonov et al19
,
and Sunder et al20
. Elevated serum cholesterol, TG and VLDL, LDL
and decreased HDL have been implicated in the etiology of
cardiovascular diseases (CHD) 21
. High serum lipids (TG, and VLDL,
LDL) contributed to the development of cardiovascular diseases in
various ways. According to Gokkusu and Mostafazadeh22
Standard
VCO dose of 1 mg/day administered along with normal pellet diet,
showed a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in all the lipid parameters
while there was a significant (p < 0.05) increase in HDL level. It was
also seen that VCO along with HCD and HLD fed animals, showed a
significant decrease in all the lipid parameters (p < 0.05) with a
significant rise in HDL (p < 0.05) level as compared to HCD and HLD
control animals. According to Shah23
, lauric acid is the main medium
chain fatty acid present in the VCO. Small sized medium chain fatty
acids are easily absorbed through small intestine without enzymatic
process. These fatty acids are carried to the liver blood flow to be
metabolized and transported to the mitochondria without carnitine to
produce energy quickly and efficiently, so they are not deposited as
fat in the tissue. A total cholesterol /HDL ratio of ≤ 3 connotes a low
risk, a ratio of around 4.5 an average risk and ratio of ≥8 a high risk
of developing coronary artery disease24
. In our study, atherogenic
index is decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in all VCO treated groups
when compared with HLD and HCD group animals. A 1% decrease
in HDL is associated with a 3-4% increase in the risk of heart
disease14
. Our study showed that HDL increase in plasma results in
equivalent increase in percentage of protection in atherogenesis.
Previous studies also revealed decreased levels of lipids in rats fed
with VCO than Copra oil (CO)25
, olive oil and sunflower oil26
. Total
polyphenol content of VCO (84 mg/100 g oil) and CO (64.4 mg/100 g
oil) were estimated27
.VCO supplementation prevents the blood-

4. Shariq et al. Evaluation of Anti-Atherosclerotic Activity of Virgin Coconut Oil
UK J Pharm & Biosci, 2015: 3(2); 13
pressure raising effect of five-time heated palm oil (5HPO). The
blood-pressure lowering effect of VCO may be attributable to its high
polyphenol component28, 25
. Furthermore, another study revealed that
phenolic fraction of VCO contains higher levels of caffeic acid, P-
coumaric acid, ferulic acid and catechin than CO29
. In addition, we
reported previously that VCO contains significantly higher amounts
of vitamin E (30.87 µg/100 g oil) than CO (12.76 µg/100 g oil) 30
.
There is presence of total tocopherols and tocotrienols31
including B
carotene in VCO32
. Studies show that increased concentration of B
carotene increase the fecal secretion of bile acids and decreases the
concentration of lipids33
.In addition, we reported previously that VCO
contains increased levels of phytosterols30
. It is clear that the
phytosterols competitively blocks the absorption of cholesterol and
increases fecal excretion of bile acids and neutral sterols for
improving circulating lipid profiles to reduce the risk for CHD34
. All
these biologically active micronutrients present in VCO act
synergistically and results in beneficial alteration in lipid levels.
5 Conclusions
Our study shows that VCO decreases body weight, TC and LDL,
hence it prevents atherosclerosis in HCD and HLD fed male rats.The
VCO had anti-obesity potential, although its effect varied among
diets as its effect might be relatively lower in HCD induced obesity
than in HFD induced obesity.This study indicates dietary VCO
beneficially modulates the hepatic lipid metabolism, by regulating the
synthesis and degradation of lipids, may be due to the difference in
absorption, transport and catabolism of its constituent fatty acids as
well as the higher amounts of biologically active un saponifiable
minor components present in VCO. Our preliminary data strongly
suggests that VCO with its high polyphenol content is capable of
maintaining the normal levels of cholesterol and other lipid
parameters in plasma and also increased the concentration of HDL
cholesterol in male Wistar rats fed HCD and HLD.
6 Competing interests
There is no conflict of interest.
7 Author’s contributions
SB is the research student of masters in biomedicine. ZO and SR
are supervisor and the co-supervisor respectively. HK helped in the
animal handling. JK helped in dosage preparation. MH helped in
biochemical analysis. Sundus helped in sample analysis. SAD and
KM helped in the statistical analysis.
8 References
1. Frostegard J, SLE. Atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.
Journal of Internal Medicine. 2005; 257: 485-493.
2. Damjanov I, Linder J. editors. Anderson‟s Pathology. 10th ed.
Missouri (US): Elseviers: 2009.
3. Ross R. Atherosclerosis: An inflammatory disease; In Epstein,
F.H. (Ed) Mechanisms of disease, N Engl J Med. 1999; 340(2):
115-126.
4. Kumar V, Abbas AK, Fausto N, Aster JC. Editors. Pathologic
basis of disease. 8th ed. Pennsylvania (US): Elseviers: 2010.
5. Ramıirez MC, Mesa MD, Aguilera MC, Quiles JL, Baro L,
Ramirez CL, Martinez E, Gil A. Oral administration of a turmeric
extract inhibits LDL oxidation and has hypocholesterolemic
effects in rabbits with experimental atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis. 1999; 147: 371-378.
6. Banerjee SK,Maulik SK. Effect of garlic on cardiovascular
disorders. A review. Nutrition journal. 2002; 1-4.
7. Villarino BJ, Dy LM,Lizada MC C. Descriptive sensory
evaluation of virgin coconut oil and refined, bleached and
deodorized coconut oil. LWT Food Science and Technology.
2007; 40(2): 193–199.
8. Enig MG. Coconut: in support of good health in the 21 century.
2001 - http://goo.gl/LLONCH
9. Fife B. Coconut Cures: Preventing and Treating Common
Health Problems with Coconut, Avery Trade, New York, NY,
USA, 4th
edition.2005.
10. Dayrit CS. Coconut oil in health and disease: it‟s and
monolaurin‟spotencial and cure for HIV/AIDS. 37th Cocotech
Meeting, Chennal, India, July 25, 2000.
11. Kayamori Y, Hatsuyama H, Tsujioka T, Nasu M and Katayama
Y. Endpoint colorimetric method for assaying total cholesterol in
serum with cholesterol dehydrogenase. ClinChem: 1999; 45
(12): 2158-2163.
12. Friedewald WT, Levy RI, Fredrickson DS. Estimation of the
Concentration of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in
Plasma, without use of the Preparative Ultracentrifuge. Clinical
Chemistry. 1972; 18(499 EOF 502 EOF): 1530-8561.
13. Schulpis K,Karikas GA. Serum Cholesterol and triglyceride
distribution in 7737 school aged Greek children. Paediatrics:
1998; 101: 861-864.
14. Dhandapani R. Hypolipidemic activity of Ecliptaprostrata (L.)
L.leaf extract in atherogenic diet induced hyperlipidemic rats.
Indian J ExpBiol: 2007; 45: 617-619.
15. Mohana T, Navin AV, Jayachandaran KS, Sivasitambaram ND.
Protective effect of grape seed proanthocyanidins against
cholesterol cholic acid diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in
rats. Cardiovascular Pathology. 2011; 20: 361–368.
16. Leong X, Mustafa MR, Das S,Jaarin K. “Association of elevated
blood pressure and impaired vasorelaxation in experimental
Sprague-Dawley rats fed with heated vegetable oil,” Lipids in
Health and Disease. 2010; 9(66): 66–76.
17. Liau KM, Lee YY, Chen CK, Rasool AH G. “An open-label pilot
study to assess the efficacy and safety of virgin coconut oil in

5. Shariq et al. Evaluation of Anti-Atherosclerotic Activity of Virgin Coconut Oil
UK J Pharm & Biosci, 2015: 3(2); 14
reducing visceral adiposity,” International Scholarly Research
Network Pharmacology, vol. 2011, pages 7.
18. Assuncao ML, Ferreira HS, Santos dos AF, Cabral CR Jr,
Florencio TMMT. “Effects of dietary coconut oil on the
biochemical and anthropometric profiles of women presenting
abdominal obesity,” Lipids. 2009; (44): 593–601.
19. Azonov JA, KhorramKhorshid HR, Novitsky YA, Farhadi M,
Ghorbanoghli Z,Shahhosseiny MH. Protective effects of setarud
(IMODTM) on development of diet-induced
hypercholesterolemia in rabbits. DARU J. Pharm. Sci. 2008;
(16): 218–222.
20. Sunder ShyamA, Rama Narsimha Reddy A, Rajeshwar Y, Kiran
G, Krishna Prasad D, Baburao B, Thirumurugu S, Karthik A.
Protective effect of methanolic extract of
Trianthemaportulacastrum in atherosclerotic diet induced renal
and hepatic changes in rats. Der Pharmacia Lettre. 2010; 2:
540–545.
21. Shankar V, Kaur H, Dahiya K, Gupta MS. Comparison of fasting
and postprandial lipid profile in patients of coronary heart
disease. Bombay Hosp. 2008; 50: 445–449.
22. Gokkusu C and Mostafazadeh T. Changes of oxidative stress in
various tissues by long-term administration of vitamin E in
hypercholesterolemic rats. Clin. Chim. Acta: 2003; 328: 155–
161.
23. Shah ANA. Virgin Coconut Oil, oil conquering various diseases.
AgromediaPustaka. Jakarta: 2005.
24. Chia BL. Cholesterol and coronary artery disease- issues in the
1990s. Singapore Med J: 1991; 32: 291-294.
25. Nevin KG,Rajamohan T. Virgin coconut oil diet increases the
antioxidant status in rats. Journal of Clinical Food Chemistry.
2006; 99: 260-266.
26. Arunima S and Rajamohan T. Virgin Coconut oil improves
hepatic lipid metabolism in rats-compared with copra oil, olive
oil and sunflower oil. Indian J of Exp Biol. 2012; 50: 802-809.
27. Nevin KG and Rajamohan T. Beneficial effects of virgin coconut
oil on lipid parameters and in vitro LDL oxidation. Clinical
Biochemistry. 2004; 37(9): 830–835.
28. Marina AM, Che Man YB, Nazimah SAH, Amin I. Antioxidant
capacity and phenolic acids of virgin coconut oil, International
Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition. 2009; 60(2): 114–123.
29. Seneviratne KN,Dissanayake DMS. Variation of phenolic
content in coconut oil extracted by two conventional method,
International J Food Sci Technol. 2008; 43: 597.
30. Nevin KGRajamohan T. Wet and dry extraction of coconut oil:
impact on lipid metabolic and antioxidant status in cholesterol
coadministered rats, Can J PhysiolPharmacol: 2009; 87: 610.
31. Wong ML, Timms RE,Goh EM. Colorimetric determination of
total tocopherols in palm oil, olein and stearin, J Am Oil Chem
Soc. 2009; 87: 610.
32. Santra M, Rao VS.Tamhankar SA. Modification of AACC
procedure for β-carotene in early generation durum wheat,
Cereal Chemistry. 2003; 8012: 130.
33. Seo JS, Lee KS, Jang JH, Quan Z, Yang KM, Burri BJ,Usda
ARS. The effect of dietary supplementation of β-carotene on
lipid metabolism in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Nutr
Res. 2004; 24: 1011.
34. Sklan D, Budowski P and Hurwitz S. Effect of soy sterols on
intestinal absorption and secretion of cholesterol and bile acids
in the chick. J Nutr. 1974; 104: 1086.