Effects of hydro-ethanolic extract of leaves of Maesa lanceolata (Mursinaceae) on acetic acid-induced ulcerative colitis in rats.

Ulcerative colitis is a form of inflammatory bowel disease that is characterized by acute and chronic inflammation. The aim of this work was to evaluate the efficacy of hydroethanolic extract of Maesa lanceolata leaves on acetic acid-induced colitis in rats. Colitis was induced by rectal administration of 1 mL of acetic acid (4%) in 25 male rats except the normal control group which received distilled water after 18 h of fasting followed by Ketamine (50 mg/kg)/Valium (10 mg/kg) anesthesia. Five hours later, the normal control and the negative control received distilled water, the positive control received prednisolone (5 mg/kg) and the three test groups received extract at 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg bw for eight days. During treatment, rectal temperature, the number and quality of the stools, and changes in body weight were assessed. At the end of the treatment, the animals were sacrificed, blood, colon, liver and spleen were collected for evaluation of hematological, inflammatory, antioxidant and histological parameters. Rectal temperature and the number of diarrheal, mucus and bloody stools were significantly reduced (P < 0.01) during treatment in the test and positive control groups with an increase in body weight change. The extract significantly (P < 0.01) reduced myeloperoxidase, TNF-α, interleukin 6, NO and MDA levels and significantly (P < 0.01) increased SOD levels, of GSH and catalase activity in the colon and blood. This extract also increased (P < 0.01) levels of red blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit, total white blood cells and blood platelets, prevented leukocyte infiltration in the liver and colon.

Hypolipidemic and anti-atherogenic effect of aqueous extract leaves of Ficus glumosa (Moraceae) in rats.

Leaves of Ficus glumosa are used in northern Cameroon and southern Chad for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, as food and as a stimulant for milk production in both women and animals. Atherosclerosis is a disease in which frequency increases with age. The first lesions appear at the young subject during adolescence. Atherosclerosis lesions appear very precociously and worsen with age. They interest the levels chronologically aortic, coronary then carotid. Age is a risk factor in that it reflects the exposure time of individual to the other risk factors. The frequency of the atherosclerosis increases with age because of the aging of the cells. This study was undertaken to evaluate the hypolipidemic and anti-atherosclerotic properties of aqueous extract of the leaves of F. glumosa in rats with hypercholesterolemia (HC). 60 male rats were fed for 4 weeks with a high-cholesterol diet (1%) and 3 doses (225, 300 and 375 mg/kg) of extract of F. glumosa were used in these experiments. The experiments were conducted under the same conditions with atorvastatin (1 mg/kg), as pharmacological reference substance. The effects of F. glumosa on weight gain, water and food consumption, levels of serum lipids and lipoprotein lipid oxidation and stress markers in the blood and liver were examined. The administration of F. glumosa extract prevented significant (P<0.05) elevation in TC, LDL-c, VLDL-c, hepatic and aortic TG and TC. The atherogenic, triglyceride, and lipid peroxidation (TBARS) indexes were also decreased in the rats treated with the extract. F. glumosa favored the performance of fecal cholesterol. It also significantly inhibited the changes and the formation of aortic atherosclerotic plaques. These results revealed the hypolipidemic and antiatherosclerotic effects of F. glumosa extract and support the traditional use of the extract of this plant in the treatment of hypertension and diabetes.