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ABSTRACT
Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world. However, there is controversy about whether caffeine consumption causes an increase or decrease in body weight and lipid profile. The present study sought to establish the effect of caffeine on the weight of Wistar rats and identify different effects this has on the various lipid classifications which are Total Cholesterol (TC) and its derivatives such as; Triglycerides (TAG), Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL), High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) and Very Low Density Lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol. 15 Wistar rats weighing 150-200g were randomly divided into three groups of 5 rats each after acclimatization: Control group (only rat feed), Low dose group (250 mg/kg) and High dose group (500 mg/kg). The Rats were then fed with raw caffeine mixed with rat feed for 4 weeks. Blood samples were collected from the heart of the animals via cardiac puncture and emptied into plain capped sample bottles for Lipid before they were taken immediately to the laboratory for the estimation of the different variables. The obtained results indicated that significantly decreased body weight gain was recorded in rats treated with 500 mg/kg BW/day of caffeine at the end of the 4th week as compared to the control group. These results suggest that the effect of caffeine on body weight is dose dependent. Fasting serum levels of TC and HDL-C were statistically not different, in rats treated with 250 and 500 mg/kg BW/day of caffeine compared to the control group. Evaluation of fasting serum lipid profiles showed that treating rats with 500 mg/kg BW/day of Caffeine had significantly increased fasting serum levels of TG when compared to the control group. Overall, the cumulative findings of the present study suggest that coffee consumption may be helpful in preventing complications such as obesity, diabetes, inflammation and cardiovascular diseases.
