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Total lipid profile with aqueous fruit extract of <i>Solanum macrocarpum</i> Linn. in hypercholesterolaemic albino rats


OA Sodipo
FI Abdulrahman
UK Sandabe
JA Akinniyi

Abstract

Studies were undertaken to investigate the effects of the aqueous fruit extract of Solanum macrocarpum Linn. on the total lipid profile: total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) on hypercholesterolaemic rats. Total serum cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL-C were lowered in the hypercholesterolaemic rats with increasing dose of the extract whilst serum HDL-C increased. These changes however were not significant (p > 0.05) when compared to the control. The results show that the aqueous fruit extract of the plant may be capable of reducing circulating lipids in high cholesterol-diet fed rats. However, more work still needs to be done on this as the changes in the serum lipid profile were not significant so as to determine whether the plant either inhibits lipid biosynthesis or stimulates lipid catabolism.

Keywords: Solanum macrocarpum; Triglycerides; Cholesterol; LDL-cholesterol; HDL-cholesterol; Aqueous extract


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eISSN: 0189-8442