ESTIMATION OF SERUM LLIPIDS (TOTAL CHOLESTEROL, HDL CHOLESTEROL AND LDL CHOLESTEROL IN ALLOXAN INDUCED DIABETIC WISTER RATS)

ESTIMATION OF SERUM LLIPIDS (TOTAL CHOLESTEROL, HDL CHOLESTEROL AND LDL CHOLESTEROL IN ALLOXAN INDUCED DIABETIC WISTER RATS)

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the hypoglycemic effect of canavaelia ensiforoms and its association with serum lipids (total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol) in an alloxan-induced diabetic rat. Diabetes was produced by administering 100mg/kg weight of a 5% stock solution of alloxan. There were four groups: one treated with 200mg/kg body weight of plant extract, one treated with 400mg/kg body weight of plant extract, a diabetic control group, and a normal control group. After 14 days of treatment with the plant extract, diabetic rats treated with 200mg/kg showed a significant drop in blood glucose concentration (94.5 + 25.22mg/dl) when compared to diabetes control rats (38016 + 133.01mg/dl). The effect of the plant extract on serum total cholesterol in diabetic rats treated with 200mg/kg body of (ensiforms was similarly dramatically reduced (118.20 + 24.55mg/dL) as compared to diabetic control rats (201.84 + 61.55mg/dL). Furthermore, the diabetic rat treated with 200mg/kg body weight of the plant extract had a significantly higher HDL-cholesterol level (57.54 + 16.31mg/dL) than the diabetic rat (3286 + 7.42 mg/dL). The diabetic rat treated with 200mg/kg body weight of the plant extract had a significantly lower LDL-cholesterol level (51.59 + 29.82mg/dL) than the diabetic control (133.44 + 57.39mg/dL). Thus, canavalin ensiform extract lowers blood glucose, total cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol while increasing HDL cholesterol.

INTRODUCTION

Literature Review

Dietary legumes have been shown to alter glycoami and lipiddaemia in humans and experimental animals. Mahnow et al. (1980); Bingwem et al. (1981); Molgaard et al. (1987); Donatucei et al. (1987). (Analis Ensiformis DC) (family: leguminosaae), often known as jack beans, is native to Central America and the West Indies but is widely cultivated in the tropics of Africa and Asia.

The seeds have been shown to have antihypercholesterolemic (Marfo et al., 1990) and hypoglycemic (Enyikwola and al., 1991) properties. Diabetes mellitus is a syndrome characterised by chronic hyperglycemia and changes in carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism, as well as absolute or relative deficits in insulin secretion and/or action (Bennet, 1994).

Patients with this condition are typically classed as type I (insulin dependent) or type 2 (non-insulin and dependent). Controlling blood glucose levels, lipid levels, blood pressure, and weight in all kinds of diabetes will lower the incidence of vascular issues and associated disorders (Williams, 1994).

Previous research on the effect of (ensiforms on normal and alloxan-induced diabetic rats found statistically significant decreases in blood and urinary glucose weight loss in the treated diabetic animals (Nimen bo – Uadia and Osagie, 1999).

This study examines the effects of C. ensiforms on total senior cholesterol, HSL-cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol in alloxan-induced diabetic rats.

CHOLESTEROL

Cholesterol is the most prevalent lipid because there is a clear link between high cholesterol levels in the blood and the prevalence of cardiovascular illnesses in humans.

Basic cholesterol research has resulted in thousands of trials, revealing the critical function this chemical plays in the development of cardiovascular disease.

Fortunately, it also led to the discovery of another set of molecules known as stains, which significantly reduce the quantity of cholesterol circulating in the blood. Clinical studies show that statins reduce the risk of heart disease by up to 40%, which helps explain why the number of fatalities from disease has been reduced by nearly 60% since 1950 (Thompson, 2001).

Cholesterol is a form of lipid, therefore lipids and water do not interact. Cholesterol must be coated in a water-friendly structure known as a lipoprotein in order to be carried readily through the body’s watery blood vessels (Olson, 988).

Following ultracentrifugation, many types of lipoproteins transporting cholesterol in the blood were revealed due to their differing densities.

Lipoproteins are classified into four types: chylomicrons (CM), very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), low-density lipoproteins (LDL), and high-density lipoproteins (HDL) (Fielding and Fielding 2008).

Elevated blood levels of cholesterol in low density lipoproteins (LDL) have been related to a high cholesterol diet and an increased risk of atherosclerosis.

Cholesterol in high density lipoprotein (HDL) seems to protect against atherosclerosis rather than cause it. The total level of cholesterol in the blood was not as relevant for coronary heart disease as how the cholesterol was distributed among the various particles that may transport it in the bloodstream.

It is now well accepted that the first stage in the development of heart disease is high LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream. This excess, which could be caused by a diet or a genetic predisposition, increases the likelihood that some LDL cholesterol from the blood will slip between the cells that connect the inner walls of the arteries.

LDL cholesterol, which is difficult to break down, remains lodged between these cells, resulting in local initiation. To deal with this annoying visitor, the immune system’s garbage-eating cells (macrophages) are drawn to the cholesterol stuck in the artery and consume it.

Eventually, the macrophages die and release their cholesterol into the artery wall. This cholesterol, along with intact cholesterol, activates macrophages, resulting in fatty streaks in the arteries (Brown and Goldstein, 1984).