Pengaruh Ekstrak Etanol Buah Pare (Momordica charantia L.) Terhadap Morfologi Jantung dan Histologi Aorta Mencit (Mus musculus L.) yang Dipapar Obat Antinyamuk Elektrik

Abstract

Electric mosquito repellent contains allethrin, a compound that can trigger inflammation and cause structural changes in the heart and aorta. Bitter melon (Momordica charantia L.) contains secondary metabolites such as flavonoids and terpenoids that function as antioxidants and are suspected to help prevent atherosclerosis. This study aimed to analyze the effect of ethanol extract of bitter melon fruit on heart morphology and aortic histology in mice (Mus musculus L.) exposed to electric mosquito repellent. The study employed a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with six treatment groups and four replications. The treatments included: a normal control group, a group exposed to electric mosquito repellent, a group exposed to the repellent and given vitamin C, and three groups exposed to the repellent and administered ethanol extract of bitter melon at doses of 50, 75, and 100 mg/kg body weight. Aortic tissue preparations were processed using the paraffin embedding method and stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE). The results showed that administration of the ethanol extract of bitter melon reduced heart weight, lowered organ index, and improved heart color. It also decreased the aortic wall thickness to 36.48 µm, improved atherosclerotic lesions, and increased the aortic lumen diameter to 147.46 µm (p < 0.05). These findings indicate that the ethanol extract of bitter melon has the potential to protect heart morphology and aortic histology in mice exposed to electric mosquito repellent.