An animal study was conducted to evaluate the antilithogenic effect of a combination of dietary fenugreek seeds and onion. Lithogenic conditions were induced in mice by feeding them a high (0.5%) cholesterol diet (HCD) for 10 weeks. Fenugreek (12%) and onion (2%) were included individually and in combination in this HCD. Fenugreek, onion and their combination reduced the incidence of cholesterol gallstones by 75%, 27% and 76%, respectively, with attendant reduction in total cholesterol content by 38-42%, 50-72% and 61-80% in serum, liver and bile respectively. Consequently, the cholesterol/phospholipid ratio was reduced significantly in serum, liver and bile. The cholesterol saturation index of bile was reduced from 4.14 to 1.38 by the combination of fenugreek and onion and to 2.33 by onion alone. The phospholipid and bile acid contents of the bile were also increased. Changes in the hepatic enzyme activities (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl Coenzyme A reductase, cholesterol-7α-hydroxylase and cholesterol-27-hydroxylase) induced by HCD were countered by fenugreek, onion and their combination. Hepatic lipid peroxides were reduced by 19-22% and 39-45% with fenugreek, onion and their combination included in the diet along with the HCD. Increased accumulation of fat in the liver and inflammation of the gallbladder membrane produced by HCD were reduced by fenugreek, onion and their combination. The antilithogenic influence was highest with fenugreek alone, and the presence of onion along with it did not further increase this effect. There was also no additive effect of the two spices in the recovery of antioxidant molecules or in the antioxidant enzyme activities.
We recently reported that dietary fenugreek seeds lower the incidence of cholesterol gallstones (CGS) in high-cholesterol fed mice and also regress pre-established CGS. In this study, fenugreek was evaluated for hepatoprotective and antioxidant influence in mice fed high-cholesterol diet (HCD). After feeding HCD for 10 weeks, groups of animals were maintained for further 10 weeks on HCD/basal diet/basal diet containing 6 or 12% fenugreek. Activities of serum aspartate aminotrasferase, alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase increased with prolonged feeding of HCD. Activities of these enzymes were lower in animals fed basal control/ fenugreek containing diets after initial exposure to HCD, and were prominent in fenugreek groups. Hepatic lipid peroxides decreased and antioxidant molecules increased in fenugreek fed groups. Activities of hepatic antioxidant enzymes -glutathione reductase, glutathione-Stransferase and glutathione peroxidase were higher in fenugreek treatment. These results suggested hepatoprotective and antioxidant potential of fenugreek seeds under conditions of lithogenicity.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThis animal study has indicated the health beneficial hepatoprotective and antioxidant influence of dietary fenugreek seeds in mice that had been previously chronically exposed to a high-cholesterol diet. These antioxidant effects of dietary fenugreek seeds are complementary to the recently reported reduction in the formation of cholesterol gallstones and regression of established cholesterol gallstones under lithogenic condition, namely, high cholesterol consumption and these effects were brought about by countering of the altered cholesterol saturation index in the bile by dietary fenugreek. The present novel report on the antioxidant influence of fenugreek seeds in conditions of oxidative stress brought about in hypercholesterolemia and lithogenic situation has an implication in deriving human health benefit of this spice adjuvant.Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), a leguminous herb belonging to the family Fabaceae, is cultivated in India and North African countries. The seeds of fenugreek are used as a spice for seasoning, a flavoring agent and, in comparatively larger quantities, in making soups and pancakes. While fenugreek seeds have been in use for over 2,500 years, this seed spice is also used for medicinal purposes in many traditional systems of medicine, particularly as antibacterial, gastric stimulant, antidiabetic agent, galactogogue and against anorexia (Chopra et al. 1986;Fillips and Foy 1990). In recent decades, several health-beneficial physiological attributes of fenugreek seeds have been experimentally evidenced in
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