Increased cholesterol in the body can cause death. The World Health Organization (WHO) puts the number of deaths due to increased cholesterol at 2.6 million. High cholesterol levels are caused by many factors, such as a high-fat diet, a low-fiber diet, obesity, low physical activity, and smoking habits. These may cause several non-communicable diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes mellitus. The medical term often used to describe the state of high cholesterol levels in the blood is hypercholesterolemia.
Seeing these problems, the UGM PKM-RE team, Shafira Salwa Salsabil (Veterinary Medicine, 2019), Raden Roro Prakasita B.L. (Veterinary Medicine, 2019), Vania Putri Ardana (Veterinary Medicine, 2019), Inarotul Wardah Pratiwi (Kimia, 2018), and Rizky Aprillia Widianti (Kimia, 2018), developed an extracted nanoparticles formulation from kirinyuh leaves as candidate drugs that can lower cholesterol levels in the blood.
Shafira as the team leader explained that this research started from a discussion on the community habit of consuming kirinyuh leaves as a natural herbal medicine used to treat various diseases, one of which is hypercholesterolemia. From this, Shafira and her team members found several questions and unanswered denials and finally initiated a research idea with their supervisor, Anggi Muhtar Pratama.
“Some of the questions on our mind were what substance in the leaf is so powerful that people think kirinyuh can cure various diseases? The local community is known to consume kirinyuh by boiling it. Wouldn’t heating with a high temperature remove the active compound content from the leaves?,” said Shafira on Thursday (21/10).
According to a literature review conducted by Shafira and her team, compounds in kirinyuh leaves that can lower cholesterol are flavonoid compounds. Flavonoids can inhibit the activity of the HMGCR enzyme. This enzyme plays a role in producing cholesterol in the body. If the activity of this enzyme is inhibited, it will reduce the production of cholesterol in the body.
Based on the results of the preliminary study, they formulated kirinyuh in nanoparticle extract preparations, and then they tested its effectiveness in lowering cholesterol on rats with hypercholesterolemia. The results showed the administration of kirinyuh leaf extract nanoparticles can significantly reduce cholesterol levels in mice.
“One of the advantages of this innovation is it uses the local wisdom from kirinyuh leaves taken in Imogiri, Bantul Regency. This leaf is a weed found around rice fields and can interfere with other plants. If you do not know the benefits of this plant, you might throw it away. Using kirinyuh leaves as a nanoparticle extract preparation will certainly help reduce these harmful weeds,” said Shafira.
This research will be developed further in the future by conducting clinical trials. In addition, this innovation is the first step of creating standardized cholesterol-lowering herbal medicines that are safer, do not cause many side effects, and are proven to be effective in lowering cholesterol levels in the blood.
Source: https://www.ugm.ac.id/id/berita/21841-mahasiswa-ugm-kembangkan-nanopartikel-ekstrak-daun-kirinyuh
