Abstract: Alchornea laxiflora belongs to Euphorbiaceae family and it is mainly cultivated for its ethno-medicinal uses. It is used for the treatment of malaria, inflammation and infectious diseases in Nigeria. The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of the methanol extract of the leaf (ML), extracted with 95% methanol using soxhlet extractor at 65oC, on antioxidant enzymes, triacylglycererol (TAG) and cholesterol levels in male Wistar rats. The animals (30) weighing between 120g-150g were divided into five groups of six rats each. Group 1 served as control and received distilled water, p.o. Groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 received 0.5, 1.0, 10.0 and 50.0mg/kg body weight dose of the ML respectively (p.o) for fourteen consecutive days. Results showed that the rats fed with the higher concentrations of ML had significant increase (p<0.05) in glutathione content (GSH), SOD and catalase activities relative to control. Also, there were no significance changes in the TAG and the cholesterol level in all the concentrations of ML extracts examined. These results suggest that Alchornea laxiflora ML extracts possess varied degree of potent antioxidant activity and may serve as important sources of antioxidants in food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries.
Keywords: Alchornea laxiflora, antioxidant, cholesterol, triacylglycerol.
Title: Effects of Methanol Leaf Extract of Alchornea laxiflora on Antioxidant Enzymes, Triacylglycerol and Cholesterol Levels in Male Wistar Rats
Author: Esosa Uhunmwangho, Osebhahiemen Ojemekele, Aanuoluwa Salemcity
International Journal of Life Sciences Research
ISSN 2348-313X (Print), ISSN 2348-3148 (online)
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