Abstract
Caffeine is an active ingredient of coffee (Nescafe) as one of the major sources of dietary antioxidant compounds which counteract the action of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are the main contributors to oxidative stress. This research is carried out to investigate the role of caffeine in modulating superoxide dismutase and caffeine’s contribution to aging. Forty five sexually matured albino rats with weights ranging from 120-200g were purchased from the animal house of the Department of Anatomy, University of Port Harcourt. These animals were divided into five groups according to their weights and were housed in fifteen well ventilated cages containing sawdust which serves as beddings for the comfort of the animals and for easy removal of their feaces. They were fed daily with animal feed, water ad libitum and allowed to acclimatize for a period of one week, after which their weights were taken and caffeine administration commenced.The results obtained showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in the body weight of the animals on days 14 and 21 following the administration of 20mg/kg of the extract when compared with day 0 and a significant (p<0.05) increase in serum superoxide dismutase activity for 100mg/kg on day 14 when compared to the control. The findings of this study suggests that caffeine (NESCAFE) may have little or no significant effect on the activity of superoxide dismutase.
Highlights
Caffeine is one of the world's widely consumed psychoactive drugs
An increase was observed for day 7 which is not statistically significant when compared with day 0.A significant (p
An increase was observed for days 7 and 21 which is not statistically significant when compared with day 0.There was an increase in the body weight of the animals on days 7, 14 and 21 following the administration of 100mg/kg of the aqueous solution of Caffeine which is not significant when compared with day 0.There was a significant (p
Summary
Because of its stimulant activity, caffeine has been believed to have a beneficial impact and such benefits include mental alertness. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant of the methylxanthine class chemically known as 1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthine. The benefits of caffeine has made it an important compound to manufacturers in the field of food and medicine whereas beverages containing caffeine such as chocolate, green tea, coffee, soft drinks and energy drinks enjoy great popularity.The use of coffee and it's beneficial effect on health dates back many centuries, further studies are linked with the scientific revolution despite the fact that drinking of coffee has been invoked for many decades, the actual role of it has been long debated mainly because some potential negative aspects have been hypothesized (Daniela et al 2016).
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