In Korea, Dendropanax morbifera Leveille (Araliaceae) is commonly used in traditional medicines for various diseases. We evaluated the hypolipidemic activity of D. morbifera essential oil (DMEO) in male Wistar rats (weight, 160 +/- 15 g) maintained on a high-cholesterol diet. DMEO was extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS). The DMEO yield was 3.5%, and GC/MS analysis revealed that its major constituents were gamma-elemene (18.59%), tetramethyltricyclo hydrocarbons (10.82%), beta-zingiberene (10.52%), and beta-selinene (10.41%). Rats were orally administered DMEO at doses of 50, 100, and 200 mg kg(-1) d(-1) for 2 weeks. DMEO significantly and dose-dependently reduced the total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and significantly increased the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. We conclude that D. morbifera has significant lipid-lowering effects and is a promising agent that should be considered in studies seeking new, safe, and effective natural cardioprotective agents.