ABSTRACT
Serum lipid profile is measured for cardiovascular risk prediction and has now become almost a routine test. Cardiovascular complications and associated conditions remain a major cause of death, globally. Sphenocentrum Jollyanum has been used for different and several medicinal purposes. On this background, the effect of aqueous leaf extract of Sphenocentrum Jollyanum on the lipid profile of physiologically normal dawley rats was examined. Thirty dawley rats weighing 160-170 g were obtained from the animal house of the department of anatomy , school of basic medical science , university of benin, benin city. They were allowed to acclimate for a period of 2 weeks housed in a plastic cage and experimental period lasted for 4 weeks. Graded doses of the extract, 200mg/kg, 5000mg/kg, 1000mg/kg, 500mg/kg, 3000mg/kg were orally administered to rats for a period of 28 days. This study was divided into six groups and they were; GROUP 1- control received feed and water only for the duration of 4 weeks, GROUP 2- received feed, water and 200mg/kg dose of extract of sphenocentrum jollyanum, GROUP 3- received feed, water and 5000mg/kg dose of extract of sphenocentrum jollyanum, GROUP 4- received feed, water and 500mg/kg dose of extract of sphenocentrum jollyanum, GROUP 5- received feed, water and 1000mg/kg dose of extract of sphenocentrum jollyanum, GROUP 6- received feed, water and 3000mg/kg dose of extract of sphenocentrum jollyanum. Histological analysis, fasting lipid profile assay as well as SPSS statistics software were carried out. Values are expressed as mean±SEM, values of (P> 0.05) were considered not significant. The extract, caused no significant difference in the total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein(HDL) Cholesterol in the treated rats when compared to the control group. The results obtained in this study suggest that S. Jollyanum aqueous leaf extract which has hypolipidemic activity has no effect on the lipid profile of the infected rats.
