Antioxidant and Antihyperlipidemic Activity of Methanol Extract of Borassus aethiopum Fruit in Triton X-100 Induced Hyperlipidemic Rats

摘要

Hyperlipidemia is considered one of the major risk factors causing cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The antihyperlipidemic activity of methanol extract of Borassus aethiopum fruit was tested in Triton X-100 induced hyperlipidemic rats. The hyperlipidemia was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of Triton X-100 (100mg/kg bwt). The qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis of the fruit extract revealed the presence of Flavonoid, saponin, steroids, phenols, tannins, terpenoids and alkaloid with flavonoid having the highest percentage (22%). The GC-MS analysis carried out revealed the presence of alpha tocopherol, oleic acid, dibutyl phthalate, costunolide, citronellol, ascorbyl palmitate, ergosta-5, 22-dien-3, 9,19-Cyclolanost-24-en-3-ol and Ergost-22-en-3-ol. The antioxidant activity of the methanol extract was also determined using Hydrogen peroxide (H_(2)O_(2)), 2, 2-Diphenyl-l-Picryl Hydrazyl (DPPH) and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) assay at different concentrations (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg/mL). Result obtained revealed high antioxidant activity comparable to ascorbic acid in a dose dependent manner. Treatment of hyperlipidemia with Borassus aethiopum fruit methanol extract at different concentrations (100, 200, 300 and 400 mg/kg) significantly (p≤ 0.05) reduced the hyperlipidemia via decreased levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL- C), very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) and increase in serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) when compared to control group in a dose dependent manner. Result obtained from this study indicate that the methanol fruit extract of Borassus aethiopum used in this research possess strong antihyperlipidemic activity comparable to the standard drug atorvastatin.