Effect of Consumption of Sphenostylis stenocarpa Seed-formulated Diet on Oxidative Stress Biomarkers of Dexamethasone-treated Pregnant Rats

Aim: The present study tends to examine the effect of consumption of Sphenostylis stenocarpa-formulated diet on oxidative stress biomarkers of dexamethasone-treated pregnant rats. Methodology: Sphenostylis stenocarpa was obtained locally from a market in Ado Ekiti. They were ground into powder and used to make feed for laboratory animals. Fifteen pregnant female rats were divided into three groups of five. Animals in group A were only fed standard animal feed. This served as the control group. Those in group B were exposed to Sphenostylis stenocarpa-formulated diet + 0.3 mg/kg body weight of dexamethasone, while those in group C were exposed to Sphenostylis stenocarpa-formulated diet. At the end of the eight days treatment, animals were sacrificed and blood sample, liver and kidney were collected. Results: The results revealed that treatment of animals with dexamethasone significantly increased (P<0.05) the activities of SOD and CAT and the concentration of MDA but decreased the concentration of GSH in plasma, liver homogenate and kidney homogenate respectively when compared with those in animals in the control group as well as those fed with S. stenocarpa-formulated diet only. The result further showed that feeding of animals with S. stenocarpa-formulated diet only had no significant effect on oxidative stress biomarkers investigated when compared with those in the control group. Conclusion: It can be concluded that exposure of animals to dexamethasone induced oxidative stress in animals while S. stenocarpa-formulated diet possesses the potential to alleviate the effect of oxidative stress generation.