The potency of the peels of Citrus sinensis against cadmium induced liver damage has not been explored in our environment. 48 wistar rats were used for this study. The animals were randomly divided into eight (8) groups of five (5) rats each. Group A was the positive control and received 5 mg/kg body weight (bw) of cadmium chloride (CdCl 2 ) intraperitoneally as a single dose. Groups B and C received the aqueous extract of zest of citrus sinensis (AEZCS) at a low doses of 10 and 40 mg/kg bw respectively. Groups D and E received cadmium chloride, followed by low and high doses of AEZCS respectively. Groups F and G received low and high doses of AEZCS followed by CdCl2 while group H served as the normal control. Liver enzymes (AST, ALT and ALP) and serum total proteins were analyzed. The results showed significant (P<0.05) differences in the mean values of LV/BW, ALT, AST, total proteins, serum dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) when the positive control group was compared with the normal control group (P<0.05). Histological sections of the negative control groups were significantly different from the positive control group but not from the groups treated with AEZCS at the high doses. Thus, AEZCS had ameliorative and protective health benefits at the high dose of 40mg/kg body weight.

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-hyperlipidemic effect of methanol Mangifera indica seed kernel extract on hyperlipidemic Wistar rats. Mango seed kernels were dried at room temperature before being ground into fine powder. 500 g of mango seed kernel powder was soaked in 500 mL of 98 % methanol and shaken intermittently for 72 h, after which the extract was concentrated. Twenty five adult male wistar rats were divided into five groups of five rats each. Group I: was administered 2 ml of distilled water. Groups II-V were induced hyperlipidemia. However, while Group II was not treated with the extract (negative control), Groups III and IV were treated with 150 and 350 mg/kg body weight of mango seed kernel extract (MSKE) and Group V was administered the standard drug (atorvastatin). Treatment lasted for 21 days, after which rats were sacrificed and blood sample was collected and subsequently analyzed via standard procedures. Hyperlipidemia was characterized by increased levels of total cholesterol and Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL). Oral administration of MSKE significantly (P<0.05) reduced the aforementioned indices to levels which though were significantly (P<0.05) higher than that reported for the normal control group. On the other hand, it was observed that that the levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) and triacylglyceride (TG) in the negative control (Group II) were significantly (P<0.05) low but increased following oral administration of extract in a dose dependent manner. It was also observed that MSKE of M. indica reduced the body weight of hyperlipidemic rats. In conclusion, it can be deduced from this study that MSKE has the potential to address hyperlipidemia

Background and Aim: Hypertension is a common debilitating illness among people in both developed and developing countries. This study investigated the effect and possible mechanism of the antihypertensive activity of lycopene-rich extract of Solanum lycopersicon (LRESL) on Wistar rats. Methods: Sixty hypertensive Wistar rats were divided into seven experimental groups viz: Group A served as a normotensive group and received food and clean distilled water ad libitum. Group B was the hypertensive untreated group; Groups C-E served as hypertensive group administered with 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg LRESL, respectively. While group F was hypertensive and received 10 mg/kg amlodipine and group G received 200 mg/kg of LRESL+0.5 mg/kg Lisinopril respectively. Results: There was a statistical significant decrease (P<0.05) in the systolic and diastolic blood pressure and the decrease was in a dose-dependent manner. The heart rate showed no statistical significant difference among the groups. The total cholesterol (TC) increased in the positive and normal control compared to other groups. There was a significant decrease in the triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in all hypertensive treated groups. The decrease in the LRESL treated groups was in a dose-dependent manner and there was no significant difference between the groups compared to the normotensive and positive control. Moreover, the high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) had a significant reverse effect of the LDL-C as there was a significant increase (P<0.05) in HDL-C and the increase was more significant in group E and G respectively. The serum cardiac arginase (SCAr) activity also decreased significantly (P<0.05) in all groups except group B compared to the normotensive and positive control groups and in a dose-dependent manner. The serum nitric oxide (SNO) concentration also increased in all test groups in a dose-dependent pattern except the positive control group. Conclusion: This study suggests that LRESL has an antihypertensive property and elicited this through multiple mechanisms involving a decrease in SCAr, LDL-C, body weight and marked elevation of SNO and could be used as a novel compound channeled into the production of antihypertensive drugs.

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