ABSTRACT
The use of herbal remedies in various local communities throughout the world to assuage the scourge of indigenous diseases has gained tremendous popularity. One of the many plants species of herbal remedies is Moringa oleifera (horseradish) which has been widely used in West Africa and Nigeria in particular for treating numerous human ailments such as malnutrition, cardiovascular, hepatotocicity and many others. Regardless of its wide use by communities around the world, there is inadequate scientific information available on the actual pharmacological effects of ethanolic extract of Moringa oleifera leaves on the heart and kidney dysfunction. Hence this work aimed at determining the inhibitory activity of ethanolic extract of horseradish on oxidative stress in the heart and kidney of dexamethazone induced hypertensive wistar albino rats. The air-dried leaves of horseradish were pulverized and crude ethanolic extract was prepared. The animals were grouped into four groups of five animals each. Group A animals served as control and fed with water and feed while Groups B and C animals were administered with 0.5 mL of 40% w/v ethanolic extract of Moringa oleifera leaf and 0.5 ml of 1.67 mg/kg body weight dexamethasone respectively. Group D animals were treated with 0.5 ml of 1.67 mg/kg body weight dexamethasone and 0.5 mL of 40% ethanolic extract of Moringa oleifera leaf intermittently for 21 days. The results obtained from the study showed that the ethanolic extract of Moringa oleifera leaf possessed the ability to inhibit and reverse the dexamethasone mediated tissues oxidative damage of both organs as seen in cholesterol, reduced glutathione and malondialdehyde concentrations. The same protective trend was also observed in activities of alkaline phosphatase, aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase and catalase enzymesin both organs of the hypertensive rats. Hence, ethanolic extract of Moringa oleifera leaf reduced the extent of antioxidant loss and restoration of organ dysfunction caused by dexamethasone in the rats.
ABSTRACT
Much attention has been drawn to the toxic effect of bromate on the organs like liver, spleen etc. However, it is not clear whether or not the toxicity of bromate is related to other vital organs like the kidney. Hence, the present work is geared towards not only unraveling the toxic effect of bromate on the kidney but more importantly investigate the protective effect of African nutmeg Myristica fragrans against bromate induced toxicity in this organ. Twenty wistar albino rats (180 to 200 g) were divided into 4 groups. Group I was given normal rat feed with water as control; group II was administered with 1.0mL Potassium bromate (KBrO3) solution (30 mg/kg body weight); groups III and IV were simultaneously administered with 1.0mL of KBrO3 each and 1.0mL of 20% and 40% aqueous extract of African nutmeg respectively. All the treatments were given daily for two weeks. Enzyme biomarkers such as Aspartate Transaminase (AST), Alkaline Transaminase (ALT), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT), reduced glutathione (GSH), Cholesterol (CHOL), High Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol (HDL-CHOL), Triglycerides (TRIG), and Malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured in the kidney homogenate. Results obtained showed that although bromate exerted significant (P < 0.05) toxic effects on the kidney homogenate, administration of the aqueous seed extract of African nutmeg caused a marked reversal in the toxicity of bromate in a dose dependent fashion. Since, the introduction of bromate caused an alteration in enzyme biomarkers in the kidney homogenate, this indicates that the seed is a potential antioxidant against bromate toxicity of the kidney tissues.