Ighodaro O M, Omole J O
Biochemistry Laboratory, Lead City University, Ibadan, Nigeria.
ISRN Pharmacol. 2012;2012:387942. doi: 10.5402/2012/387942. Epub 2012 Sep 6.
Cardiovascular complications and associated conditions remain a major cause of death, globally. Piliostigma thonningii has been used for different and several medicinal purposes. On this background, the effect of aqueous leaf extract of the plant on the lipid profile of physiologically normal rats was examined. Graded doses of the extract, 0.0, 0.2, and 0.4 g/kg of body weight (bwt) were orally administered to rats for a period of 14 days. The effect of the extract was assessed on the basis of comparative determinations of the evaluated indices in treated rats vis-à-vis the nontreated group as well as in respect to the differences between the basal and final concentrations of the indices in each group. The extract, especially at 0.2 g per kg body weight caused a significant decrease in the total cholesterol, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in the treated rats when compared to the control group and basal concentrations. Though, the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol increased in the treated rats, the increase was not significant when compared to the basal concentration. The LDL/HDL ratio in all the experimental groups was less than 0.9. The results obtained in this study suggest that P. thonningii aqueous leaf extract likely contains antilipidaemic and anticholesterolaemic substance(s), which may be useful in the prophylactic and curative management of lipid peroxidation, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disorders.
在全球范围内，心血管并发症及相关病症仍然是主要的死亡原因。托宁氏刺桐已被用于多种不同的药用目的。在此背景下，研究了该植物水叶提取物对生理正常大鼠血脂水平的影响。将分级剂量的提取物，即0.0、0.2和0.4克/千克体重，口服给予大鼠，持续14天。通过比较测定处理组大鼠与未处理组大鼠的评估指标，以及每组指标的基础浓度与最终浓度之间的差异，来评估提取物的效果。与对照组和基础浓度相比，提取物，尤其是0.2克/千克体重剂量，使处理组大鼠的总胆固醇、甘油三酯和低密度脂蛋白（LDL）胆固醇显著降低。虽然处理组大鼠的高密度脂蛋白（HDL）胆固醇水平有所升高，但与基础浓度相比，升高并不显著。所有实验组的LDL/HDL比值均小于0.9。本研究所得结果表明，托宁氏刺桐水叶提取物可能含有降血脂和降胆固醇物质，这可能有助于脂质过氧化、高血压和心血管疾病的预防和治疗。
