Abstract

Hypocholesterolemic and Antioxidant activities of Dikanut (Irvingia gabonensis) supplemented diet in Abino rats was investigated. Albino rats (males) were fed diets `supplemented with 10, 20 and 30%, respectively dikanut for 14 days. Results showed significant (p<0.05) reductions in cholesterol levels compared to control; 1.43±0.08 to 0.88±0.10 mg/mL in the test animals. Lipid peroxidation levels also decreased significantly (p<0.05) from 6.56±0.23 mg/mL for control to 4.16±0.48 mg/mL for the test animals, while antioxidant enzymes (SOD and Catalase) levels increased significantly (p<0.05) compared to control, 21.30±3.28 to 28.72±3.68 and 2.26±0.05 to 2.95±0.11 U/L, respectively. Glutathione peroxidase level also showed significant (p<0.05) reductions from 3.82±0.41 U/L for control to 3.06±0.62 U/L in the test animals. The elicitation of these effects by the dikanut supplemented diet is a reflection of its hypocholesterolemic and antioxidative properties and could be of nutritional and clinical importance to persons at risk of cardiovascular disease.

Keywords:

Cardiovascular disorders, cholesterol, free radicals, lipid, oxidative stress,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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The authors have no competing interests.