Curcuma longa L. plant (known as curcum hence the name Curcuma, turmeric) is a member of the Curcuma botanical group, which is part of the ginger family of herbs, Turmeric is used worldwide as the main ingredient in curry, the spice, and as a source for curcumin or curcuminoids. it is used for medicinal purposes This study was conducted on sixty Sprague Dawley strain male rats and weighting 100±10 g. Six rats served as control (-ve) group (Co.(-)) while Twenty-four rats were fed high- containing basal diet+5% tallow+1% cholesterol+ 0.02% bile salt to induce Hypercholesterolemia. These rats were reclassified into control (+ ve) (Co.(+)), three treated rat groups that were 4, 6 and 8 g /kg diet turmeric. The treatment period was designed for six weeks. The obtained results revealed that the total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), HDL-C and LDL-C were determined, in addition to serum glucose, liver and kidney function. The histopathological changes of the heart, liver and kidney were evaluated. SPSS, one way ANOVA was used to analyze the results. The results indicated that dietary curcumin significantly blocked the effect of HFD on the body-weight gain, the best value was in G (3), The best treatment was turmeric (6g and 8g) which had the lowest values of total cholesterol, TG and LDL-C, and the best values of HDL-C. Also, the best improvement in glucose level in G (3), results clearly revealed that the best treatment was turmeric (8 g / Kg diet) which had the lowest values of ALK, ALT and ALP. uric acid and urea gave a significant decrease in groups G2 and G3. The moderate and higher dose from turmeric gave normal histological structure in the heart, liver and kidney in Morphologic changes. In conclusion, results showed that turmeric had a similar potential to attenuate CHD-related parameters in mild oxidative stress induced by a high-fat diet in rats.
KEYWORDS: Atherosclerosis turmeric, Liver, Heart, High-Fat Diets rats