Original Articles: 2016 Vol: 8 Issue: 1
Investigation of sub-acute toxicity and hypolipidaemic effect of aqueous and methanol fruit extract of Xylopia aethiopica
Abstract
This work investigated the effect of aqueous and methanol friut extracts of Xylopia aethiopica on the serum cholesterol level and some liver marker enzyme activities on wistar albino rats. The animals were randomly selected and divided into seven groups (A-G) of four rats per cage with 3 replicates. Group A served as control, administered commercial feed and water only, while group B-D were administered different concentrations (50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg and 150 mg/kg) of aqueous extract of Xylopia aethiopica respectively. Rats in groups E-G were treated orally with 50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg and 150 mg/kg concentration of methanol extract of X. aethiopica respectively. The study lasted for 6 weeks with weekly collection of blood samples for the determination of serum levels of the biochemical parameters. Results showed significant (P<0.05) increase in alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity from week 1-3 and no difference from week 4-6 across different concentrations of extracts when compared to the normal control. Similarly there was no significant (P>0.05) difference in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities from week 1-6 compared to the normal control. Significant (P<0.05) decrease in cholesterol level of rats was observed in Week 1 and Week 3 in both extracts while no significant difference was seen in the other weeks compared to the normal control. The result of this study was similar for both methanol and aqueous extracts and suggests that the extracts may have hypolipidaemic effect and does not confer toxicity even with prolonged use.