Antilithogenic and hypocholesterolemic effect of dietary fenugreek seeds (Trigonella foenum-graecum) in experimental mice

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is being used as food adjuncts to enhance the organoleptic properties of foods. Several health beneficial attributes of fenugreek seeds have been evidenced in earlier studies. Thus objective of the investigation was to evaluate the hypocholesterolemic and antilithogenic property of fenugreek seeds. Cholesterol gallstones were induced in mice by feeding high cholesterol diet (0.5% cholesterol and 0.125% bile salts) for 10 weeks. The experimental results revealed that fenugreek significantly lowered the incidence of gallstones in mice by 63, 40 and 10% with the incorporation of fenugreek in to HCD at 5, 10 and 15% levels, respectively. The reduction in CGS incidence was mainly due the decline in cholesterol levels of bile as evidenced by the reduction of biliary cholesterol saturation index from 2.57 to 0.77–0.99 with fenugreek incorporation. Besides, fenugreek also showed the regression of pre-established gall stone by 61 and 64% with 6 and 12% fenugreek levels respectively at 10 weeks in mice. The antihypercholesterolemic effect of fenugreek was mainly attributed to the decreased biliary cholesterol saturation index. Our results concluded that the fenugreek seeds not only reduce the induction but also regress the preformed gall stones, thus possess an antilithogenic effect through antihypercholesterolemic action in mice.