The ubiquitous consumption of junk foods has drastically contributed to the exponential rise in the incidence of obesity. Hence, the present study explores the therapeutic effect of selected indigenous wild bean Sphenostylis stenocarpa (Otili) and condiment fermented Parkia biglobosa (Iru) on obese rats. The rats were fed with a high fat diet for four weeks and the gut microbiota was monitored every other day throughout the period of the experiment. Then, the fecal metabolome was analysed by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS). Although there was a decrease in the mean weight of rats treated with fermented iru compared with those given Otili, it was not statistically significantly (p ≤ 0.05). The organisms identified from the fecal samples of the fermented Iru groups are Proteus vulgaris, Bacillus cereus and Esherichia coli while those identified from the Otili group include Escherichia coli, and Citrobacter Freundii. However, further study revealed that Otili and Iru had a similar faecal metabolome. Medium chain fatty acids, such as Decanoic acid, Octanoic acid, ethyl tetradecanoate, Hexadecanoic acid, Methyl tetradecanoate, 9-Hexadecanoic acid, Hexadecnoic acid, cis-10-Hepadecanoic acid, are the most common compounds found in this study. This suggests the fact that the associated gut microbiota from breakdown of respective food samples must have actively mediated in their roles of ameliorating the effect of obesity.
Aim: The present study tends to examine the effect of consumption of Sphenostylis stenocarpa-formulated diet on oxidative stress biomarkers of dexamethasone-treated pregnant rats. Methodology: Sphenostylis stenocarpa was obtained locally from a market in Ado Ekiti. They were ground into powder and used to make feed for laboratory animals. Fifteen pregnant female rats were divided into three groups of five. Animals in group A were only fed standard animal feed. This served as the control group. Those in group B were exposed to Sphenostylis stenocarpa-formulated diet + 0.3 mg/kg body weight of dexamethasone, while those in group C were exposed to Sphenostylis stenocarpa-formulated diet. At the end of the eight days treatment, animals were sacrificed and blood sample, liver and kidney were collected. Results: The results revealed that treatment of animals with dexamethasone significantly increased (P<0.05) the activities of SOD and CAT and the concentration of MDA but decreased the concentration of GSH in plasma, liver homogenate and kidney homogenate respectively when compared with those in animals in the control group as well as those fed with S. stenocarpa-formulated diet only. The result further showed that feeding of animals with S. stenocarpa-formulated diet only had no significant effect on oxidative stress biomarkers investigated when compared with those in the control group. Conclusion: It can be concluded that exposure of animals to dexamethasone induced oxidative stress in animals while S. stenocarpa-formulated diet possesses the potential to alleviate the effect of oxidative stress generation.
Background: Modulation and balancing of host gut microbiota by probiotics has been documented by several literature. Prebiotic diets such as locust beans have been known to encourage the occurrence of these beneficial microorganisms in the host gut. Objectives: To study the modulating role of gut microbiota in the hypolipidemic effect of fermented locust beans on diabetic Albino Wister rats as animal models. Methodology: Albino rats (Wistar strain), averagely weighing 125g were successfully induced with alloxan. Thereafter this induction, anti-diabetic treatment was carried out on various groups of rats by feeding them ad-libitum with a diet of milled fermented and unfermented Parkia biglobosa seeds, respectively. Results: After three weeks of treatment, it was observed that fermented locust beans caused a significant reduction (p ≤ 0.05) in glucose, total triglycerides, total cholesterol and LDL, while the HDL levels were significantly elevated (p ≤ 0.05). Results of faecal analysis showed that the fermented locust beans modulated the gut microbiota through the occurrence of probiotic bacteria, Bacillus subtilis in the gut and faeces of the rats. Conclusion: This study support that fermented locust beans is a prebiotic diet that encourages the growth of Bacillus subtilis in the gut of animals and is associated with hypolipidemic activities which alleviate diabetes as portrayed in these rat models.
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