Atherosclerosis in cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a growing health problem, especially in developing countries. Hyperlipidemia is known as a dominant risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis. This study was designed to investigate the effects of Eurycoma Longifolia (EL) also known as Malaysian Ginseng/Tongkat Ali on the testosterone level, biochemical changes of lipid profile and intima media thickness (IMT) in rats fed on high-fat diet. Twenty young, adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were housed for 12 weeks. After one week of acclimatization, they were randomly divided into four groups of 5 animals each and treated for 12 weeks as follow: Group ND was given only normal diet, group NDEL was given normal diet and EL extracts (15mg/kg) dissolved in distilled water, group HFD was given only high fat diet and group HFDEL was given high fat diet and EL extracts (15mg/kg). Rats which were treated with EL (NDEL and HFDEL) showed a significant increase (p < 0.05) in the testosterone levels. There was a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in triglyceride (TG) in HFDEL group compered to HFD group. The histological sections of aortas revealed a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in IMT in HFDEL as compared with HFD group. No histological changes were observed in NDEL group compared with ND group and there was no significant difference in IMT values between NDEL and ND. These findings suggest that EL is a promising protective agent against atherosclerosis induced by high-fat diet.

There is increased prevalence of hypertensives among Malaysians in the last decade. The cost of anti-hypertensive agents is also escalating. There is a dire need for cheaper alternative drugs. In tropical regions, there have been claims that Eurycoma longifolia (EL) a local herbal plant is effective in obliterating headache and reducing blood pressure. Most studies had focused on aphrodisiac property of EL which has been shown to enhance testosterone levels in males. This study exploredthe possible effect of EL as an anti-hypertensive agent and whether the mechanism is related to serum testosterone levels. Twenty four healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups (n=6): normal diet (ND), normal diet treated with EL (NDEL), high-fat diet (HFD) and HFD treated with EL (HFDEL). EL (15 mg/kg) was administered orally for 12 weeks. The animal's body weight, blood pressure and testosterone level were measured at week 0, 6 and 12.Results showed that the level of testosterone in groups receiving EL were significantly increased (P < 0.05) from the untreated groups, in agreement with previous studies report on EL increasing testosterone level. Rats with high fat diet benefitted from treatment with EL extract (HFDEL)as there were reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure significantly (P < 0.05). Despite this effect, there were no significant correlations between blood pressure and testosterone level in HFDEL. There were no changes of blood pressure in rats receiving normal diet with or without EL, but there was a significant negative correlation (r= -0.846, p=0.034) between testosterone and diastolic blood pressure in NDEL. This study suggested the presence of anti-hypertensive property of EL in high fat diet induced hypertension, but it not associated with testosterone level. The blood pressure lowering mechanism through testosterone hormone however is only seen in normal diet group. � 2017 Rafidah Hanim Mokhtar et al.