Anti-lipidemic activity of NSIC RC 336 rice bran extract on total cholesterol and triglyceride levels in albino rats.

     The research was about the lowering effect of the NSIC RC 336 Rice Bran extract on the total cholesterol and triglyceride levels of the albino rats. This study is a quantitative experimental research design wherein randomized
controlled trial was used. The extraction of the rice bran was conducted at the Cebu Doctor's University Research Laboratory. The rice bran extraction was completed under the supervision of an assigned laboratory technician. The
experimentation phases of the study were conducted at the Cebu Doctor's Animal Laboratory and the researchers were guided by a licensed veterinarian and licensed animal caretaker under the supervision of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Determination of all the total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were done at the Cebu Doctor's University Diagnostics Center with the use of spectrophotometer.

     The albino rats were acclimatized under laboratory conditions for fifteen (15) days (light period 8:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M., 20 ± 3 ºC). Blood was collected three (3) times for the quantitation of the specific analytes used in the study. First, blood was collected for the mean baseline level after the subjects underwent fasting. Second, collection was done after inducing a high fat diet. Third, it was collected after the treatment phase was finished. The tail vein was used as the site of blood collection for the first and second extraction while cardiac puncture was
done for the third blood extraction.

    The findings of the study established that the total cholesterol levels were significantly lowered after treatment with the rice bran extract by 43% and a 54% decrease using the treatment tocopherol. When compared to the no treatment group, it showed that the results for rice bran extract group and tocopherol group had lower total cholesterol by 23.0 mg/dl and 31.64 mg/dl respectively. On the contrary, rice bran extract lowered the triglyceride levels only by 9% compared to the tocopherol which decreased the triglyceride level by 43%. Statistically, the
rice bran extract group had lower triglyceride levels than the no treatment group although it was not significant. There was no enough evidence that the rice bran extract can effectively decrease the triglyceride levels. Therefore, the 100 mg/kg rice bran extract significantly lowered the total cholesterol compared to the triglyceride levels. The recommendation of this study is directed towards the use of natural ways of lowering cholesterol and triglycerides and to modify the method and concentration of the rice bran to show its capacity to lower the
triglyceride levels.