Effect of Cymbopogon citratus (lemon grass) spiced diet on the liver and serum of albino rats

Abstract

We studied the effect of Cymbopogon citratus (lemon grass) spiced diet on the serum and liver of albino rats. The spice was mixed in a graded concentration of 5.0, 10.0, and 15.0 g with normal rat ration, and fed to the rats twice daily for 7 days. A total of sixteen rats were group into four to represent the control and the respective concentrations. At the end of the experiment, all the rats were sacrificed under light chloroform anesthesia, and glucose, cholesterol, triglycerol as well as activities of aspartate amino transferase (AST), alanine amino transferase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) assayed in serum and the liver samples. The result shows that glucose levels decreased in a concentration dependent manner. Similar results were found for cholesterol and triglycerol contents. The activities of the enzymes ALP and ALT, decreased both in the liver and the serum, while AST increased both in serum and in the liver.

Keywords: Spice; liver enzymes, cholesterol, glucose, rats

IJOTAFS Vol. 1 (1) 2007: pp. 76-79