Serum Lipid Profile and Antioxidant Status of Salt- induced Hypertensive Rats Treated with an Antioxidants Rich Nutraceutical

Abstract

There is increase evidence that hypertension is associated with increased levels of oxidative stress markers. The current work aimed to investigate the effect of an antioxidant rich nutraceutical on blood pressure, glucose, lipid profile, antioxidant status, nitric oxide, insulin, and malondialdehyde in salt loaded albino rats. The rats were placed on 8% NaCl for 3 weeks and then supplemented with 250 and 500mg/kg body weight of the nutraceutical with or without nifedipine for additional 3 weeks. The nutraceutical was prepared from onions, garlic, tomatoes, lemon, palm oil and crayfish in ratio of 5:5:2:4:2:2. Salt loading significantly increased the blood pressure. Supplementation showed significant (P<0.05) decreased in the blood pressure, glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, atherogenic index, Malondialdehyde and increased in high density lipoprotein-cholesterol,  antioxidant status and nitric oxide as compared with unsupplemented group. The percentage protection against atherogenesis indicated an average of 83.12 ± 2.53% for all the treated groups. The result also indicated significant positive correlation between the mean arterial blood pressure and total cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, atherogenic index and correlated negatively with high density lipoprotein-cholesterol and antioxidant activities. There was no significant difference in the parameters of supplemented group and the group treated with 10mg/kg of nifedipine. The results suggest that the nutraceutical may improve the antioxidant status and delayed the complications of hypertension in rats.

Key words: Cardiovascular disease, hypertension, nutraceutical, oxidative stress