The present study was conducted to investigate the lipid-lowering and antioxidative activities of Ocimum sanctum L. (OS) leaf extracts in liver and heart of rats fed with high-cholesterol (HC) diet for seven weeks. The results shows that OS suppressed the high levels of serum lipid profile and hepatic lipid content without significant effects on fecal lipid excretion. Fecal bile acids excretion was increased in HC rats treated with OS. The high serum levels of TBARS as well as AST, ALT, AP, LDH, CK-MB significantly decreased in HC rats treated with OS. OS suppressed the high level of TABARS and raised the low activities of GPx and CAT without any impact on SOD in the liver. As for the cardiac tissues, OS lowered the high level of TABARS, and raised the activities of GPx, CAT, and SOD. Histopathological results show that OS preserved the liver and myocardial tissues. It can be concluded that OS leaf extracts decreased hepatic and serum lipid profile, and provided the liver and cardiac tissues with protection from hypercholesterolemia. The lipid-lowering effect is probably due to the rise of bile acids synthesis using cholesterol as precursor, and antioxidative activity to protect liver from hypercholesterolemia.

It has been reported that Ocimum sanctum L. (OS) leaves decrease serum lipid profile in normal and diabetic animals. No experimental evidences support the anti-hyperlipidemic and antioxidative actions against hypercholesterolemia. Moreover the identity of the specific chemical ingredients in OS leaves responsible for these pharmacological effects are unknown. Since OS leaves are rich in essential oil (EO). Therefore the present study was conducted to investigate the anti-hyperlipidemic and antioxidative activities of EO extracted from OS leaves in rats fed with high cholesterol (HC) diet. EO was extracted by the hydrodistillation method and the chemical constituents were then identified by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. The experiment was performed in Male Wistar rats fed with 2.5 g%(w/w) of cholesterol diet for seven weeks. During the last 3 weeks, rats were daily fed with EO. The results showed that phenyl propanoid compounds including eugenol and methyl eugenol were the major constituents of EO. EO suppressed the high serum lipid profile and atherogenic index as well as serum lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase MB subunit without significant effect on high serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase in rats fed with HC diet. In addition, EO was found to decrease the high levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) without impacting catalase (CAT) in the cardiac tissue while in the liver, it decreased high level of TBARS without significantly effecting GPx, SOD and CAT. Histopathological results confirmed that EO preserved the myocardial tissue. It can be concluded that EO extracted from OS leaves has lipid-lowering and antioxidative effects that protect the heart against hypercholesterolemia. Eugenol that is contained in EO likely contribute to these pharmacological effects.

Ocimum sanctum L. (OS) leaves have been shown to exert diverse potential benefits in a variety of stress conditions. The present study was conducted to elucidate the effects of the fixed oil extracted from OS leaves on the blood glucose levels and serum lipid profile of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. In addition, the anti-oxidative activity of OS leaves to protect various organs including the liver, kidney and heart was investigated. The fixed oil of the OS leaves was extracted using hexane, and the various fatty acid contents of the oil were determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Male Wistar rats were allocated into three groups (n=7 per group): Normal control rats, diabetic rats and diabetic rats fed daily with the fixed oil for three weeks. The results showed that α-linolenic acid was the primary fatty acid contained in the fixed oil of OS. After 3 weeks of diabetic induction, the rats exhibited increased blood glucose levels and serum lipid profile, in addition to elevated serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase MB subunit (CK-MB), creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). The fixed oil significantly decreased the elevated levels of blood glucose, the serum lipid profile and the levels of serum creatinine and BUN (P<0.001), without exerting significant effects on the elevated serum levels of AST, ALT, LDH and CK-MB. Furthermore, the fixed oil increased the diabetically-reduced levels of serum insulin and decreased the rat kidney weight. Fixed oil suppressed the elevated thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) level and increased the activity of various antioxidative enzymes in the rat renal tissue. By contrast, the fixed oil had no effect on the elevated TBARS level and the inhibited activity of the antioxidative enzymes in the rat liver and cardiac tissues. Histopathological results indicated that the fixed oil preserved the renal tissue against oxidative stress in diabetes. In summary, the results of the present study suggest that the fixed oil extracted from OS leaves exerted anti-hyperglycemic, anti-hyperlipidemic and free radical scavenging effects in diabetic rats, thus providing renal protection against diabetes. The α-linolenic acid contained in the fixed oil may be responsible for these effects.

No abstract

No abstract