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Obesity increases the risk of developing a number of diseases such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, stroke and heart attack. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of ethanolic root bark extract of Anthocleista vogelii on weight reduction in high carbohydrate diet (HCD) induced obesity in male Wistar rats. Thirty male Wistar rats were housed in three steel cages containing 10 rats each. For the period of obesity induction, Group 1 was fed with normal pellet diet (NPD), while Groups 2 and 3 were fed with HCD for 14 weeks. During the 4 weeks treatment period, Group 1 was fed with NPD, Groups 2 and 3 were fed with HCD, and only Group 3 received 500 mg/kg b.w A. vogelii extract. The ethanolic root bark extract of A. vogelii significantly decreased (P<0.05) food intake, body weight, total fat mass, adiposity index and low density lipoprotein cholesterol, but showed no significant difference (P<0.05) in body mass index, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, very low density lipoprotein cholesterol when compared with the HCD obese control. The results indicated that the ethanolic root bark extract of Anthocleista vogelii has potential to reduce weight in animals.

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Anthocleista vogelii Planch is a medicinal plant traditionally used in West Africa for the management and treatment of diabetes mellitus. Aim of the study: To determine the antidiabetic activities of chloroform fraction (CF) of Anthocleista vogelii Planch root bark in rats with diet-and alloxan-induced obesity-diabetes. Materials and Methods: Inhibitory activities of CF against α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities were determined in vitro. Three weeks old rats were fed with high-fat diet for 9 weeks to induce obesity prior to further induction of diabetes using alloxan (150 mg/kg body weight, i.p.). Blood glucose levels and body weight were measured every 7 days throughout the experiment. Glucose tolerance was assessed in normal and CF-treated rats on day 21. Terminal blood samples were collected from sacrificed animals for the measurement of serum insulin levels. Pancreases were excised from treated and untreated animals for histopathological examination. Results: LCMS/MS chromatographic profile of CF via positive and negative modes revealed 13 and 23 compounds respectively. Further analysis revealed quebrachitol (QCT), loganin, sweroside, oleoside 11-methyl ester and ferulic acid, which have been previously reported for their antidiabetic activities, as constituents of CF. CF inhibited activities of α-amylase (IC 50 = 51.60 ± 0.92 µg/ml) and α-glucosidase (IC 50 = 5.86 ± 0.97 µg/ml) in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment of animals with obesity-diabetes with 100 and 200 mg/kg CF significantly improved glucose tolerance (P<0.001) and enhanced serum insulin levels (P<0.05) compared to diabetic control rats. Conclusions: Antidiabetic activities of CF might be mediated via inhibition of α-amylase and αglucosidase activities, and enhancement of insulin and leptin sensitivity in obesity-diabetes rats. This study further substantiates the traditional use of A. vogelii in the management and treatment of diabetes in Africa and encourages further studies to investigate its mechanism of action.

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Contamination of water by Pb2+ and the threat of invasive vegetation affects the quality and quantity of water accessible to all life forms and has become a primary concern to South Africa and the world at large. This paper synthesized, characterized, and evaluated the resins from tannin-rich invasive Acacia species as an environmentally benign Pb 2+ adsorbent. The analysis of the pore volume and surface area of the resins reveals a small pore dimension of 9 × 10 −3 cc/g and large surface area (2.31-8.65 m 2 /g), presenting suitable physical parameters for adsorption of Pb 2+ . Langmuir model offers the best correlation data at pH 6 with maximum monolayer coverage capacity of 189.30, 105.70 and 98.82 mg/g for silver, black and green wattle tannin resins in aqueous solutions, respectively. The kinetic data suitably fits into a pseudo-second-order model, with the Dubinin-Radushkevich adsorption energy (E) ≤ 7.07 KJ/mol and intra-particle diffusion model confirming an associated physisorption process within the bio-sorption system. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) data of the resins were informative of the high thermal stability and chelating functionality such as -OH and -NH 2 responsible for the removal of Pb 2+ . All the resins showed good adsorption characteristics while silver wattle tannin resin has the best adsorption capacity compared to black and green wattle tannin resins. This study provides a prototype adsorbent from invasive plants for the removal of Pb 2+ in water.

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Purpose: To assess the anti-obesity effect of liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS) profiled ethylacetate fraction (EF) of Anthocleista vogelii Planch on pancreatic lipase activity in vitro, and on obesity-related hormones in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese rats. Methods: Chromatographic analysis of EF to identify bioactive compounds was performed using LCMS electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) positive mode. Thirty Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into 5 groups (n = 6). Group 1 was fed normal pellet diet, while groups 2 - 5 were fed high-fat diet (HFD) for 14 weeks. The rats were treated for 4 weeks from week 10 with 125 mg/kg of EF (group 3), 250 mg/kg of EF (group 4) or 100 mg/kg of orlistat (group 5). Results: Seven alkaloids were identified in EF, namely, 10-hydroxycamtothecin, moschamindole, camptothecin, moschamine, N6-cis-p-coumaroylserotonin, sinomenine and desacetylcolchicine. The EF of A. vogelii exhibited inhibitory activity against pancreatic lipase with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 8.76 ± 0.110 µg/mL. Rats treated with EF (125 and 250 mg/kg) of A. vogelii showed significantly (p < 0.05) decreased feed intake, body weight, leptin and insulin, when compared to HFD controls. Cortisol, serotonin and noradrenaline were significantly (p < 0.05) increased, but changes in thyroid hormones levels in EF-treated rats were not significant (p > 0.05) when compared to HFD controls. Conclusion: The EF of A. vogelii demonstrate anti-obesity activities by inhibiting pancreatic lipase, elevating serotonin and noradrenaline, and increasing leptin sensitivity, leading consequently to decreased body weight of rats. However, the clinical use of EF of A. vogelii as an antiobesity herbal remedy requires further studies on its mechanisms of action.

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