A total of thirty adult male Sprague-Dawley rats aged 3 months
(weighing 200–280 gm) were obtained from an Animal House of
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Ethical approval was obtained
from University Animal Ethics Committee prior to the
study (Permit No. PP/ANAT/2011/SRIJIT/19-MAY/370-
MAY-2011-AUGUST-2012). The animals were managed and
procedures were performed as per the recommended guidelines.
The rats were kept in plastic cages and maintained at room temperature
of 25 ± 2 Cwith a 12 h light–dark cycle. The rats were
allowed to acclimatize for 1 week prior to study with the test diet.
All rats had free access to food and water ad libitum during the
study period.16 The rats were randomly divided into five groups
comprising six animals per group. Following 1 week of acclimatization,
the following diets were fed to each group of rats: group
I (control) was fed only with commercial rat chow (basal diet);
group II was fed with basal diet fortified with15%weight/weight
(w/w) of fresh VCO (FVCO); group III was fed with basal diet
fortified with VCO heated once (1HVCO); group IV was fed
with basal diet fortified with VCO heated five times (5HVCO)
and group V was fed with basal diet fortified with VCO heated
ten times (10HVCO) for 24 weeks. BP was measured at baseline
and at intervals of 4 weeks for 24 weeks using a non-invasive
method. Blood was collected through the orbital sinus prior to
the treatment, and at the end of study. The blood was then centrifuged
to obtain plasma for the biochemical analysis.