Assessment of Lipid Profile and Oxidative Stress Markers of Persea americana Treated Wistar Rats

The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of ethanolic stem bark extract of Persea americana on lipid profile and oxidative stress markers of male Wistar rats. The rats were randomly divided into three groups of five rats each. They were treated with ethanolic extract of Persea americana (except the control group) for a period of 21days. Group1 received distilled water. Group2 received 200mg/kg of the extract and Group3 received 400mg/kg of the extract. The administration was done for 21days. At the end, the rats were sacrificed and blood sample was collected and sent to the laboratory for analysis. The data obtained was statistically analysed using SPSS software version 21. The result showed that, there was no significant difference in serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein and low density lipoprotein when test groups were compared to control. There was a significant decrease in serum very low density lipoprotein level in Group3 (400mg/kg) when compared to Group1 (Control). There was no significant alteration in glutathione reductase, catalase and superoxide dismutase enzyme activities. There was a significant difference in malondialdehyde level (a decrease). In conclusion, the ethanolic extract of Persea americana stem bark exhibited slight hypolipidemic effect because of the significant reduction in Very Low Density Lipoprotein. Also, the extract showed a significant decrease in Malondialdehyde at low dose, which shows that Persea americana may have an anti-oxidative property.