ABSTRACT:Researchers and physicians look forward to effective therapeutic agents possibly from medicinal plants following the ineffectiveness of modern drugs used in the treatment of fatty liver and its related diseases. To this ends, we evaluated the effect of Cyperus esculentus on the liver in experimentally induced hyperlipidemia in rats.Aqueous extract of the plant was administered orally to rats at the doses of 300,400 and 600mg/kg body weight(b.wt) for a period of twenty nine days. Fatty liver was induced by twice intraperitoneal injection of TritonWR-1339 at a dose of 300mg/kg b.wt. to wistar rats . The result shows that administration of triton led to significant (P˂0.05) serum increase in the activities of alanine and aspartate aminotransferases (ALT and AST) of the rats.There was no significant (p˃0.05) change in the activities of serum alkaline phosphatase following the administration of triton.The study also shows that there were significant( p˂0.05) reduction in the serum level of total protein , albumin and globulin and increase in serum level of total and conjugated bilirubin though not statistically significant (p˃0.05) following the administration of triton to rats.The observed effects are suggestive of mild toxicity of the liver by triton and this is further supported by several histopathological manifestations such as hepatocellular degeneration, macrovesicular vacuolation,periportal necrosis, congestion ,severe intimal ulceration and stenosis in the blood vessels . Treatment with the aqueous extract of Cyperus esculentus attenuated both the biochemical effects and histopathological manifestations.In conclusion, the results from the serum liver enzymes biochemical parameters and histopathological analyses suggested the toxicity of triton and also showed the effectiveness of the aqueous extract of Cyperus esculentus in attenuating the liver toxicity .©JASEM https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jasem.v21i4.7

Elaeis guineensis-Jacq (Arecaceae) is reported for the treatment of a variety of ailments notable amongst these are diabetes and hyperlipidemia. The present study is aimed at evaluating its anti-hyperlipedemic effect, via olive oil induced hyperlipidemia.The aqueous extract was obtained from a decoction of the roots, and later administered to olive oil loaded rats (5 ml/kg). Administration of 250 and 500 mg/kg of the extract was done 30 min before olive oil administration. Distilled water was used as control, while atorvastatin (50 mg/kg) was the standard drug. All administrations were done orally. Blood samples were withdrawn via the abdominal aorta 2 and 4 h after olive oil administration and centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 15 to 20 min. The plasma samples obtained were subjected to biochemical analysis for HDL, LDL, triglycerides and total cholesterol. Acute treatment with the extract points to a significant (p<0.05) reduction in total cholesterol by (35.86 and 56.32%), LDL (61.27 and 20%) and triglycerides (53.87 and 71.23%) by 250 mg/kg at the 2 nd and 4 th h respectively. At the 500 mg/kg dose, a significant reduction (p<0.05) was also obtained in TC by (36.88 and 34.84%), TG (69.51 and 51.77%) and LDL (66.19 and 50%) at the 2 nd and 4 th h respectively. While a significant increase (p<0.0001) at both doses of the extract was noted for the HDL by (295.29 and 6.72% for 250; 309.33 and 43.21% for 500 mg/kg) at 2 nd and 4 th h respectively. The effect of the extract was noted to be more pronounced in the 2 nd h in comparison with the 4 th h. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, terpenoids, and steroids. The plant possesses hypolipidemic effect, considering the increase and decrease in HDL and LDL respectively and thus a useful remedy for hyperlipdemia