Yam (Dioscorea Alata) Inhibits Hypertriglyceridemia and Liver Enlargement in Rats with Hypercholesterol Diet

Abstract

Attempts were made to elucidate the effect of yam (Dioscorea alata) on the hypercholesterol diet. Twenty-four male Wistar rats were used and treated with corn oil, high dose of cholesterol (10%) and yam (40%). It was found that excess cholesterol and yam resulted in a stimulatory effect on the growth of rats. The enlargement of liver increased after 2 weeks with treatment of excess cholesterol (p＜0.05). Such symptom was prevented in the group supplemented with yam. The level of triglyceride and cholesterol in the plasma of rats was significantly reduced by yam, even when rats were treated with excess cholesterol at the same time. The activity of plasma aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) were significantly increased as soon as rats were treated with excess cholesterol and yam in the 1-2 weeks. However, such activity was not observed when the rats were only treated with excess cholesterol for 4-8 weeks. These data demonstrated that yam might inhibit the acute induction of hypertriglyceridemia and liver enlargement in hypercholesterol diet rats.