Ethanolic Cosmos caudatus Extract Mitigates Doxorubicin-Induced Serum Lipid Profile Derangements in Female Wistar Rats

This study investigated whether an ethanolic extract of Cosmos caudatus can mitigate doxorubicin-associated serum lipid derangements in female Wistar rats. Fifteen female Wistar rats (6–8 weeks; 220–280 g) were allocated to three groups (n=5/group): control (vehicle), doxorubicin (5 mg/kg i.p., once weekly for 4 weeks), or C. caudatus plus doxorubicin (200 mg/kg/day oral gavage for 1 week pre-treatment, followed by continued daily extract with concurrent doxorubicin for 4 weeks). At the study's end, serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), and LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) were measured using enzymatic colorimetric assays; groups were compared using one-way ANOVA with Tukey's post hoc test (two-tailed, ? = 0.05). Doxorubicin induced a pronounced dyslipidemic profile versus controls, increasing TC (118 ± 10 vs. 78 ± 7.2 mg/dL; p < 0.0001) and TG (128 ± 20 vs. 71 ± 10 mg/dL; p < 0.0001), reducing HDL-C (36 ± 4.3 vs. 52 ± 4.6 mg/dL; p < 0.0001), and elevating LDL-C (41 ± 8.4 vs. 17 ± 3.7 mg/dL; p < 0.0001). Cosmos caudatus treatment significantly attenuated these abnormalities compared with doxorubicin alone (TC 98 ± 9.8 mg/dL, p = 0.0138; TG 100 ± 11 mg/dL, p = 0.0268; HDL-C 45 ± 2.7 mg/dL, p = 0.0148; LDL-C 29 ± 4.8 mg/dL, p = 0.0191), supporting partial normalization toward a less atherogenic lipid profile. These findings suggest that ethanolic C. caudatus may be a promising botanical adjunct to reduce anthracycline-associated dyslipidemia.