Abstract
Consistent consumption of high salt diet (HSD) has been associated with increased cellular generation of free radicals, which has been implicated in the derangement of some vital organs and etiology of cardiovascular disorders. This study was designed to investigate the combined effect of some commonly employed medicinal plants on serum lipid profile and antioxidant status of aorta, kidney, and liver of high salt diet-fed animals. Out of the total fifty male Wistar rats obtained, fifteen were used for acute toxicity study, while the remaining thirty-five were divided into 5 groups of 7 animals each. Group 1 and 2 animals were fed normal rat chow (NRC) and 16% high salt diet (HSD) only, respectively. Animals in groups 3, 4 and 5 were fed 16% HSD with 800, 400, and 200 mg/kg bw poly-herbal extract (PHE), respectively, once for 28 consecutive days. Serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL), triacylglycerol (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione concentration, and activities were assessed in the aorta, kidney, and liver. Poly-herbal extract (p < 0.05) significantly reduced malondialdehyde and nitric oxide concentrations and also increased antioxidant enzymes and glutathione activity. Elevated serum TG, TC, LDL, and TC content in HSD-fed animals were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced to normal in PHE-treated rats while HDL was significantly elevated (p < 0.05) in a concentration-dependent manner in PHE treated animals. Feeding with PHE attenuated high-salt diet imposed derangement in serum lipid profile and antioxidant status in the organs of the experimental rats.
Highlights
Nutrition is an important factor in maintaining the physiological and biochemical wellness of the biological system [1,2]
6 animals were distributed into 3 groups of two animals each and were administered higher 1600, 2900, and 5000 mg/kg of the poly-herbal extract (PHE), respectively
Excessive consumption of dietary salt has been associated with increase production of free radicals which can overwhelm cellular antioxidant and defense mechanism [42,43]
Summary
Nutrition is an important factor in maintaining the physiological and biochemical wellness of the biological system [1,2]. Constant consumption of diet deficient or excessive in micronutrients is associated with the development of degenerative and metabolic disorders [3]. There has been a considerable increase in the salt content of foods due to changes in human dietary habits vis-à-vis high consumption of industrialized, processed, and fast foods [5,6,7], governmental and institutional awareness on the reduction of sodium consumption and negative health implications of high salt intake are well disseminated and publicized [7,8,9,10,11]. Industrial suitability, gustatory delights, salt addiction, and consumer’s acceptability are a few of the factors still influencing the continued demand, interest, and consumption of high salt diet (HSD) worldwide [12,13]. Uncontrolled and excessive consumption of salt has been linked to the development of cardiovascular disorders, endothelial dysfunction, and derangement in lipid metabolism [16,17,18]. Increased activities of reactive oxidative species (ROS), infiltration of immune cells, and glomerular hyper-filtration have been postulated as the likely mechanisms of high salt-induced renal damage and hypertension [18,19,20,21]
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