No abstract

Fruits are rich in fiber and antioxidant compounds that can prevent and treat health disorders related to oxidative stress caused by high-fat high-cholesterol diet (HFHCD). Bouea macrophylla is a tropical fruit plant with edible juicy fruits. In this study, we conducted experiments to prove the effectiveness of B. macrophylla fruit juice (BMFJ) as an antioxidant agent in rats fed with HFHCD. Male Sprague Dawley rats were fed with HFHCD for 100 days and simultaneously orally supplemented with BMFJ. Atorvastatin was used as a positive control. At the end of the experiment, the blood and hepar were collected and assayed for malondialdehyde (MDA). The in vitro antioxidant activity of BMFJ was also evaluated using the DPPH method. Total phenols and flavonoids contents were determined using Folin Ciocalteu and AlCl3 methods, respectively. Results of the experiments showed that total phenols and flavonoids in BMFJ were 570 mg GAE/g and 31.89 mg QE/g, respectively, and the IC50 of radical scavenging activity was 564.271 ppm. The in vivo antioxidant evaluation showed that supplementation of BMFJ significantly prevents the increase of MDA levels, both in serum and liver of rats fed with HFHCD. These findings clearly indicate that supplementation of B. macrophylla fruit juice significantly prevents oxidative stress in rats fed with high-fat high-cholesterol diets through attenuation of lipid peroxidation.

In this study we conducted experiments to prove the effectiveness of Rhodomyrtus tomentosa fruit juice as hepatoprotective agent in rats fed with high fat high cholesterol diet (HFHCD). The experiments were carried out using male albino rats which were fed with HFHCD for 15 days and at the same time orally supplemented with R. tomentosa fruit juice (RTFJ) in doses of 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg bw daily for 15 days. Simvastatin is used as a positive control. At the end of the experiment, the liver function markers in serum, AST (aspartate aminotransferase) and ALT (alanine aminotransferase) were determined as well as the histopathological image of the liver. Results of the experiments showed that HFHCD significantly induced hepatotoxicity showed by increase of sAST and sALT level. Supplementation of RTFJ significantly prevent the increase of sAST and sALT levels and maintained healthy histopathological image of liver tissue in rats fed with HFHCD, reduce fat accumulation and balloning hepatocytes as seen in untreated rats. From the results we concluded that R. tomentosa fruit juice possess significant hepatoprotective activity in rats fed with high fat high cholesterol diet, and therefore could be develop further as functional food to prevent hepatic diseases due to high fat high cholesterol diet.