AimTo investigate whether the Camellia chrysantha (Hu) Tuyama can improve lipid metabolism and decrease hepatic apoptosis in aging rats.MethodsForty healthy male SD rats were recruited and divided into two groups randomly as follow: group 1 is normal control, group 2 to group 4 was subacute aging model induced by subcutaneous injection with D-galactose.Group 3 and 4 were treated with high/low Camellia chrysantha concentration respectively, meanwhile the group 2 was treated with saline as the control.Assay the levels of serum lipid in tail vein including the triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC).Test liver issue content of TC, TG, and the level of mRNA expression of Bcl-2 and Bax.ResultsCompared with the control group, serum HDLC level and Bcl-2 expression level of the treatment group increased significantly, while serum TC, TG, LDLC content as well as the TC, TG, Bax expression levels associated with the liver tissues declined markedly (P<0.05).These indicators still exhibited significant difference with comparison between high and low Camellia chrysantha (Hu) Tuyama groups (P<0.05).ConclusionsCamellia chrysantha can improve lipid metabolism, reduce fataccumulation in liver which may decrease the hepatic apoptosis in aging rats, to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis.