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This study was carried out to evaluate the oxidative and haematologic effects of aqueous extract of Cnidoscolus aconitifolius (CA) in high fat diet (HFD) and streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetes in Wistar albino rats. Diabetes was induced by feeding the rats with HFD that consisted of 20% sucrose and 20% lard for 4 weeks, followed by a single dose intraperitoneal injection of STZ (40mg/kg body weight (BW)). The aqueous leaf extract of CA was administered orally and daily at 400, 600 and 800mg/kg BW from 7days after induction of diabetes and lasted for 12 weeks, while the normal control and diabetic control rats received regular diet and HFD respectively. Metformin (50mg/kg BW) was used as a standard antidiabetic drug. The animals were anaesthetized and sacrificed to obtain blood by cardiac puncture. Preliminary phytochemical analysis of CA showed the content of tannins (5.72±0.00), saponins (12.49±0.021), alkaloids (17.45 ±0.65), flavonoids (23.72 ±0.02), cyanogenic glycosides (0.75 ±0.10) and phytate (1.97 ±0.06). The six vitamins analysed, showed the concentration of vitamin A (5.24mg/kg), vitamin B 3 (1.40mg/kg), vitamin B 6 (37.23mg/kg), vitamin B 12 (15.98mg/kg), vitamin C (382.00mg/kg) and vitamin E (18.28mg/kg). There was significantly (p<0.05) reduced activity of catalase (CAT), significantly (p<0.05) increased level of TBARS, and non significantly (p>0.05) reduced activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), Packed Cell Volume (PCV) and haemoglobin (Hb) concentration in HFD/STZ induced diabetic rats. CA significantly (p<0.05) increased the SOD and CAT activities, PCV, and Hb concentrations of the treated diabetic rats (TDR) while the TBARS was significantly (p<0.05) decreased compared to the diabetic control (DC). Our findings suggest that CA exhibited reversal effects on these selected oxidative and haematologic markers in rats which were previously damaged by HFD and STZ. © JASEM http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jasem.v19i2.5

The effect of palm oil-supplemented diet on plasma lipid profile of Wistar albino rats was investigated by feeding the experimental animals with 20% palm oil-supplemented diets for 12 weeks. The plasma levels of Total cholesterol (TC), Triglycerides (TG), Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and High-density lipoprotein (HDL) were determined at 4-, 8-, and 12-week intervals. The results showed significant (p<0.05) increases in TC (from 2.44+0.44 to 3.41+0.41), TG (from 1.72+0.51 to 2.46+0.19), and LDL (from 0.87+0.21 to 1.33+0.30) at the 4 th week. However, the level of HDL (0.97+0.06) did not show significant difference from control value (0.87+0.21). The TC/HDL ratio increased non-significantly from 3.12+0.29 to 3.55+0.29. At the 12 th week, significant decreases (p<0.05) were observed for TC (1.50+0.08), LDL (0.28+0.06), while no significant difference was noted for TG and HDL. The TC/HDL ratio decreased significantly (p<0.05) to 2.56+0.13. Analysis of organ weights showed significant (p<0.05) increase for lungs and liver while no significant differences were noted for heart and kidneys at the 12 th week of feeding the diets. The findings of the present study suggest that palm oil may be beneficial as its intake produces decreases in TC/HDL, a useful index for possible cardiovascular problems in individuals.

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