en گياهان دارویی Medicinal Plants پژوهشی Research <div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="letter-spacing:-.2pt">Background:</span></span></span></b> <span lang="EN-ID" style="font-size:10.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Current pharmacological therapies for hypercholesterolemia remain limited, particularly among individuals who exhibit intolerance to statins. <i>Citrus aurantifolia</i> (lime) has been proposed as a natural alternative with lipid-lowering properties that could help prevent cardiovascular complications. <b>Objective:</b> This study aimed to evaluate the effects of ethanol extract of lime peel (<i>Citrus aurantifolia</i>) on body weight, serum lipid profile, and histological changes in the liver and aorta of rats fed a high-fat diet. <b>Methods:</b> Lime peels were extracted by maceration using 96 % ethanol and administered to male Wistar rats (<i>Rattus norvegicus</i>) that had previously received a high-fat diet for 42 days. The experimental groups included a normal control, a high-fat diet control, a simvastatin-treated group, and three lime peel extract groups (50, 75, and 100 mg/kg body weight). The parameters observed included body weight, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and histological features of the liver and aorta. <b>Results: </b>High-fat feeding significantly increased body weight compared with the standard diet (P < 0.001). Treatment with lime peel extract and simvastatin significantly reduced body weight (P < 0.05), lowered TC and TG, and increased HDL relative to the untreated high-fat group. Simvastatin was more effective than the extract in reducing LDL (P < 0.05), while neither treatment significantly altered aortic morphology (P > 0.05). Histological analysis showed a higher proportion of normal hepatocytes in the lime peel&ndash;treated groups, particularly at 100 mg/kg (P = 0.001). <b>Conclusion: </b>Ethanol extract of&nbsp;<i>C. aurantifolia</i> peel demonstrated hypocholesterolemic effects and partial improvement in liver histology in rats fed a high-fat diet, suggesting its potential as a supportive natural therapy for hypercholesterolemia.</span></span></div> C. aurantifolia, Lime peel, Cholesterol, Hypercholesterolemia, Cardiac and liver function 83 96 http://jmp.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-7214-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Roma Sitio roma.sitio@poltekkesaceh.ac.id 100319475328460049497 0009-0004-5970-6611 No Department of Nursing, Polytechnic of Health Ministry of Health, Aceh Besar-23231, (Aceh) Indonesia Erlangga Galih Zulva Nugroho erlanggagzn@poltekkesaceh.ac.id 100319475328460049498 100319475328460049498 No Department of Nursing, Polytechnic of Health Ministry of Health, Aceh Besar-23231, (Aceh) Indonesia Nur Balqis Maulydia nurbalqis.maulydia@usk.ac.id 100319475328460049499 0009-0000-6497-5825 Yes Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia