ABSTRACT

Kaka bitters like other bitters is claimed to possess a number of folkloric therapeutic effects including lipid-lowering effects. However, there is no scientific data available as at the time of this study to evidence this claim. The Lipid-lowering effects of Kaka bitters were investigated by assessing it effects on the blood lipid parameters of wistar rats fed fat-enhanced diet. The was divided into three (3) groups: Group 1 rats was fed normal feed with distilled water; Group 2 was fed fat-enhanced diet with distilled water and Group 3 was fed fat-enhanced diet with Kaka bitters. The result obtained shows that blood TG levels decreased in group 3 rats compared with group 2, but the decrease is not statistically significant (p < 0.05). Also there was a statistically significant decrease in blood HDL levels and also statistically significant increase in total cholesterol and LDL levels of group 3 rats compared with group 2 (p < 0.05). The hyperlipidemic effect of Kaka bitters indicated by this result may be due to the alcoholic nature of Kaka bitters coupled with the antimicrobial effect of the bitters against the gut microbiota implicated in cholesterol metabolism and excretion. Kaka bitters is not a good therapy for treatment of dyslipidemia.