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Background: Medicinal plants have been used as therapeutic agents since prehistoric era. Artocarpus altilis (Breadfruit)is used in African traditional medicine to treat hypertension with scanty information on its safety profile in animals.Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the toxicological effects of oral administration of methanol extract of Artocarpus altilis (MEAA) in rats.Materials and Methods: Thirty male Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups of 5 animals each and were treated orally with corn oil (control), 100, 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg of MEAA for twenty one days.Results: MEAA caused insignificant (p>0.05) changes in the activities of serum alanine and aspartate aminotransferases(ALT and AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) relative to the control. Cardiac and hepatic AST (114.8±4.8 and(111.0±1.0) serum urea (1.1±0.2), creatinine (0.3±0.1), lactate dehydrogenase (17.3±5.8) and creatinine kinase (15.5±4.4)were significantly decreased (p<0.05) in rats treated with 2000 mg/kg of MEAA when compared to control [(134.8±5.8and 129.7±5.0), 2.94±0.3, 0.4±0.1, 38.5±13.3 and 41.3±2.9]. The MEAA significantly decreased (p<0.05) serum total cholesterol and triglyceride while high density lipoprotein- cholesterol (HDL-c) level was increased. Histopathological examination of liver, kidney and aorta slides from MEAA- treated rats showed little alteration from the control.Conclusions: The MEAA could be safe when used over a long period for therapeutic purposes
Subject(s)
Artocarpus , Biochemical Phenomena , Methanol , Nigeria , Plants, Medicinal , Rats, WistarABSTRACT
Aims: To evaluate the in vitro antioxidant and acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-inhibitory potentials of methanol extracts of Nauclea latifolia (NL), Cymbopogon citratus (CC) and Cocos nucifera (CN). Study Design/Methodologies: The antioxidant and AChE- inhibition activities were evaluated using standard in vitro methods viz; DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazine), nitric oxide (NO.), hydroxyl radical (OH.) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) radical scavenging assays as well as reducing power, Fe2+/ascorbate-induced lipid peroxidation (LPO) and AChE inhibition assays. Place and Duration of the Study: The study and analyses were carried out at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Ibadan between March and June 2012. Results: Extract of NL has the highesttotal phenol and flavonoids contents. The antioxidant activities of the extracts followed the order; CN> NL> CC. Based on DPPH radical scavenging, extract of CN was the most effective. The DPPH scavenging potential of CN, NL and CC were 88%, 82% and 76%, respectively relative to catechin (standard) (91%). The IC50 for the scavenging of hydroxyl radicals by CN, CC and NL were 145.3, 148.8 and 162.3 μg/mL, respectively while catechin is 178.6μg/mL. The reducing powers of CN and NL were statistically similar to catechin. At100 μg/mL, extracts of CN, CC and NL inhibited hepatic LPO by 41%, 22% and 29% respectively. Importantly, extract of CN significantly (p<0.05) inhibited brain LPO and promotes NO. scavenging by 48% and 23%, respectively. Also, CN at 250 and 500 μg/mL significantly (p<0.05) inhibited AChE activities by 33% and 75%, respectively. Conclusion: CC, NL and CN exhibited strong antioxidant activities but only CN has significant AChE-inhibitory potential.
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OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the antimalarial potential of kolaviron (KV), a biflavonoid fraction from Garcinia kola seeds, against Plasmodium berghei (P. berghei) infection in Swiss albino mice.@*METHODS@#The study consists of seven groups of ten mice each. Groups I, II and III were normal mice that received corn oil, KV1 and chloroquine (CQ), respectively. Groups IV, V, VI and VII were infected mice that received corn oil, CQ, KV1 and KV2, respectively. CQ, KV1 and KV2 were given at 10-, 100- and 200-mg/kg daily, respectively for three consecutive days.@*RESULTS@#Administration of KV1 and KV2 significantly (P<0.05) suppressed P. berghei-infection in the mice by 85% and 90%, respectively, while CQ produced 87% suppression relative to untreated infected group after the fifth day of treatment. Also, KV2 significantly (P<0.05) increased the mean survival time of the infected mice by 175%. The biflavonoid prevented a drastic reduction in PCV from day 4 of treatment, indicating its efficacy in ameliorating anaemia. Significant (P<0.05) oxidative stress assessed by the elevation of serum and hepatic malondialdehydewere observed in untreated P. berghei-infected mice. Specifically, serum and hepatic malondialdehyde levels increased by 93% and 78%, respectively in the untreated infected mice. Furthermore, antioxidant indices, viz; superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione-s-transferase, gluathione peroxidase and reduced gluathione decreased significantly (P<0.05) in the tissues of untreated P. berghei-infected mice. KV significantly (P<0.05) ameliorated the P. berghei-induced decrease in antioxidant status of the infected mice.@*CONCLUSIONS@#This study shows that kolaviron, especially at 200 mg/kg, has high antimalarial activities in P. berghei-infected mice, in addition to its known antioxidant properties.