Abstract
Avocado, Persea americana Mill. (Lauraceae) is a widely consumed fruit in many countries for its nutritional and medicinal benefits. In the present study, avocado fruit pulp (AFP) was investigated for its anti-hyperlipidemic and antioxidant activities in Wistar albino rats. Hyperlipidemia in the animal was induced by feeding high cholesterol diet (HCD) for 70 days in standard chow diet. Rats on HCD showed significant increase in serum liver marker enzymes (GOT, GPT, GGT, ALP) and bilirubin levels; cholesterol, increased low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) levels in serum were also elevated. Besides, an increase in lipid peroxidative indicator malondialdehyde (MDA) level, there was a decrease in serum HDL-C; non-protein sulfhydryl (NP-SH) and total protein (TP) in both liver and heart tissues. Treatment with AFP (1 and 2 ml/rat/day, orally) showed significant decrease in serum cholesterol, LDL-C, VLDL-C, TG, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT), glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), g-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT)‎, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bilirubin levels, while liver and heart MDA was also significantly decreased. After ingestion of AFP, significant increase in non-protein sulfhydryl (NP-SH), total protein (TP) contents in both tissues were observed. Assessment of liver and heart pathology showed that AFP administration caused an improvement in fatty acid changes of the tissues caused by heavy-chain disease (HCD). These results suggest that AFP possesses hypocholesterolemic and antioxidant properties due to its phytoconstituents contents and substantiates its use in folkloric practices to control dyslipidemia. Key words: Avocado, Persea Americana, hypolipidemia, anti-oxidant.
Highlights
A high level of serum cholesterol has been identified clearly as a risk factor for atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease (Chen et al, 2004)
Assessment of liver and heart pathology showed that Avocado fruit pulp (AFP) administration caused an improvement in fatty acid changes of the tissues caused by heavy-chain disease (HCD)
High cholesterol diet is regarded as an important factor in the development of cardiac diseases since it leads to development of hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis, and ischemic heart disease
Summary
A high level of serum cholesterol has been identified clearly as a risk factor for atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease (Chen et al, 2004). Hypercholesterolemia is shown to be one of the major risk factors of atherosclerosis by increasing plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels (Levine et al, 1995). Consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with a lowered risk of cardiovascular diseases and even cancer (Block et al, 1992; Riboli and Norat et al, 2003). Avocado fruit and leaves have been used in Latin American folk medicine, including Mexico to treat a variety of diseases. A previous study among Mexican population has shown that avocado consumption decreases serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides, and increases HDL-cholesterol levels compared to control diet subjects (Alvizouri-Muñoz et al, 1992; LópezLedesma et al, 1996).
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