Prosopis africana Seeds Extract Affects Lipid Profiles and Antioxidant levels in Serum and Brain Tissue of Wistar Rats

Abstract

Prosopis africana (PA) is a deciduous plant widely used in Nigeria as food flavouring condiments, but its medicinal benefits has not been fully  established. We investigated the major phytochemical constituents and evaluated the effect of aqueous extract of PA seeds on lipids and  antioxidants in the brain and serum of male Wistar rats. Three groups of rats (n = 5/group) orally received as follows:  first group distilled water, second group 500 mg/kg and and third group 1000 mg/kg of the aqueous extract respectively for 25 days. The phytochemical result revealed that PA is highly rich in terpenoids, flavonoids, saponins, steroids and alkaloids. Administration of PA (500 mg/kg) decreased serum total cholesterol (TC) and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) but raised serum triglycerides (TG), very-low-density-lipoprotein (VLDL), cardiovascular risk ratio II (CRRII) and atherogenic index of plasma (AIP). Besides, PA(500 mg/kg) increased brain content of TC, LDL-C and CRRs while both doses of PA decreased the serum and brain malondialdehyde (MDA), with no remarkable changes in the serum and brain content of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT). Meanwhile, both doses of PA raised serum content of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and PA (1000 mg/kg) alone increased the brain reduced glutathione (GSH). Conclusively, these findings show that PA exhibited antioxidant and anti-lipidaemic activities.

Keywords: Antioxidants, Atherosclerosis, Dyslipidemia, Lipid Peroxidation, Prosopis africana seeds