Blood glucose level and lipid profile in rats fed on Treculia Africana (Breadfruit) diet: A sub-chronic study

Abstract

In this study, effect of breadfruit diet on plasma lipids and blood glucose levels in diabetic and normoglycaemic rats were investigated. Forty albino Wistar rats were randomly assigned into 4 groups of ten rats each; the first group (control) fed on normal rat chow. Group 2 received 100% breadfruit diet; group 3 received alloxan treatment (50mg/kg body weight once daily for three days) + normal rat chow and the last group had alloxan treatment along with 100% breadfruit diet. The regimens lasted for a period of 5 weeks. Results on lipid profile (mmol/L) revealed that in normoglycaemic controls, the mean total cholesterol (TC) level was 1.60 ± 0.10; mean triglyceride (TG) was 0.92 ± 0.06; and the mean values of low density lipid (LDL), very low density lipid (VLDL), and high density lipoproteins (HDL) were 0.42 ± .04, 0.58 ± 0.05 and 0.76 ± 0.06 respectively. The blood glucose level (8.40 ± 0.57) in alloxan-induced diabetic rats was significantly higher (P<0.01) than in normoglycaemic controls (4.92 ± 0.32mmol/L). Plasma lipid levels (mmol/L) was also significantly higher in the alloxan-induced diabetic rats than in normoglycaemic controls (TC, P<0.01; TG, P<0.05; LDL, P<0.01 and VLDL, P<0.01 vs normoglycaemic control). Lipid fractions and blood glucose level in the breadfruit fed rats were significantly lower than in the group fed on normal rat chow, except for LDL which was not significant different in the breadfruit fed normal rats and was higher in the diabetics-breadfruit fed rats. Our results on the HDL/LDL ratio show that consumption of breadfruit favors LDL level in both normoglycaemic and alloxan (or diabetic) treated rats compared to controls. This further complicates the usefulness of breadfruit in the management of atherosclerotic diseases. We therefore conclude that breadfruit seeds probably contain agents that reduce blood sugar, TC, TG and VLDL.

Keywords: Treculia Africana, African Breadfruit, Blood glucose, Plasma Lipids, Rats

Nigerian Journal of Health and Biomedical Sciences Vol. 5 (2) 2006: 21-25