ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the weight losing, antihyperlipidemic and cardioprotective effects of the alkaloid fraction of Hunteria umbellata (H. umbellata) seed. METHODS: Adult female Wistar rats (weight range: 120-150 g) were randomly divided into 4 and 5 treatment groups in the normal and triton-induced hyperlipidemic models, respectively. and were daily treated for 14 d before they were humanely sacrificed under inhaled diethyl ether anesthesia. About 5 mL of whole blood was obtained by cardiac puncture from each treated rat, from which serum for lipids assay was subsequently separated. Tissue samples of livers of treated rats were harvested and processed for histopathological analysis. RESULTS: Repeated daily oral treatments of normal rats with 25 and 50 mg/kg/day of alkaloid fraction of H. umbellata resulted in significant (P<0.05 and P<0.001) and dose-dependent weight loss, and decreases in the serum triglyceride, total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol, while significantly (P<0.001) increased the serum levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol fraction. Similarly, oral pre-treatments with 25 and 50 mg/kg/day of alkaloid fraction of H. umbellata for 14 d before induction of hyperlipidemia with triton WR-1339 significantly (P<0.01, P<0.001) and dose-dependently attenuated increases in the average body weights, serum levels of triglyceride, total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol while also significantly (P<0.01, P<0.001) and dose-dependently attenuated significant (P<0.001) decrease in the serum high-density lipoproteincholesterol levels when compared to the untreated control values. However, the results obtained for 50 mg/kg of alkaloid fraction of H. umbellata in both normal and triton WR-1339-induced hyperlipidemic rats were comparable to that recorded for 20 mg/kg of simvastatin. Similarly, oral pretreatments with 25 and 50 mg/kg/day of alkaloid fraction of H. umbellata significantly improved the histological lesions of fatty hepatic degeneration induced by triton WR-1339 treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, results of this study showed that repeated oral treatments with 25 and 50 mg/kg/day of alkaloid fraction of H. umbellata elicited weight losing, antihyperlipidemic and cardioprotective effects in triton WR-1339 induced hyperlipidemic rats that were mediated via de novo cholesterol biosynthesis inhibition.
ABSTRACT
Non-communicable diseases [NCDs] exist in slums as the inhabitants adopt and urbanized lifestyle which places them at a higher risk for. Lack of knowledge about the morbidity, complications and the method of control contributes to a large percentage of undetected and untreated cases. This cross-sectional survey polled 2,434 respondents from Ijora Oloye, Ajegunle and Makoko, three urban slums in Lagos metropolis, southwestern Nigeria between June 2010 and October 2012. We investigated the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and obesity. Respondents signed consent forms and their health conditions were documented based on self-reported history of diabetes, hypertension and family history using a semi-structured questionnaire. Diagnostic tests; weight and height for body mass index, blood glucose, and blood pressure were performed. More than one quarter of the participants were suffering from hypertension and only half of this were diagnosed earlier, while a further few were already on treatment. Therefore on screening, it had been possible to diagnose over three hundred more respondents, who were not previously aware of their health status. The respondents' BMI showed that more than half of them were either overweight or obese and are at risk for diabetes, while 3.3% were confirmed as being diabetic, with their sugar levels greater than the normal range. This study therefore revealed the near absence of screening programs for chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity in these urban slums. This was further confirmed by the detection of new and undiagnosed cases of hypertension in about one quarter of the respondents