Cardio-protective evaluation of ethanol leaf-extract of cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) on salbutamol-induced myocardial injury in Wistar rats

Abstract

This study evaluated the possible cardio-protective effect of ethanol leaf-extract of cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) on salbutamol-induced myocardial injury in adult Wistar rats. Thirty rats weighing 100g-120g were distributed into 6 groups. Control groups (1-3) received 10ml/kg b.wt water (normal), 80mg/kg b.wt salbutamol for 2 days (negative), and salbutamol plus 10mg/kg b.wt propranolol for 10 days (positive) respectively. Test groups (4-6) received the extract (200, 400 and 800mg/kg b.wt respectively) for 28 days and salbutamol for 2 days. The administration was oral. The animals were sacrificed and blood samples were collected for biochemical analysis. The hearts were harvested for antioxidant analysis and histopathological studies. The results showed that troponin I and creatinine kinase-MB (CK-MB) were significantly elevated (p<0.05) in group 2 but reduced (p<0.05) in groups 4-6. Reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) significantly reduced (p<0.05) while malondialdehyde (MDA) significantly increased (p<0.05) in group 2 but CAT and SOD increased significantly (p<0.05) while MDA decreased significantly (p<0.05) in group 4. Total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) increased significantly (p<0.05), while high-density lipoprotein (HDL) reduced significantly (p<0.05) in group 2. A significant (p<0.05) reduction was recorded in TG, LDL, and VLDL, and an increase in HDL in group 4. Heart photomicrograph revealed histologically distorted heart tissue in group 2, but histologically normal heart tissue in groups 4-6. The findings in this study suggest that the extract could serve as a cardio-protective agent in salbutamol-induced myocardial injury in adult Wistar rats.