Prophylactic and Therapeutic Effect of Aqueous Stem Extract of Costus afer on Lipids and Atherogenic Profile of Albino Rats in Acetaminophen Induced Liver Toxicity

Background: Medicinal plants are widely used in Nigeria because they are believed to be effective in the treatment of various medical conditions and are also easily accessable with minimal side effect.

Aim: This study evaluates the prophylactic and therapeutic effects of different doses (200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg and 800 mg/kg body weight) of Costus afer on lipid profile of 50 male albino rats.

Methodology: The research study was divided into 2 phases with 25 rats used for each phases. The 25 rats used for each phase were randomly selected into 5 groups with each group containing 5 rats. The rats used for the prophylactic phase were induced with 800 mg/kg body weight paracetamol for liver toxicity after administration of the various concentrations of aqueous stem extract of C. afer for 28 days while those used during the therapeutic phase were administered with the various concentrations of aqueous stem extract of C. afer following confirmation of liver toxicity using 800 mg/kg body weight acetaminophen. The effect of the aqueous extract was assessed by measuring the serum concentration of total cholesterol, triglycerides and high density lipoprotein using Randox reagent, while low density lipoprotein was calculated from the other parameters. Atherogenic ratios were also computed. The result obtained from the experiment was subjected to statistical analysis using Graph pad prism version 5.3 and values were considered significant at p<0.05.

Results: Total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL levels were significantly (p<0.05) reduced and HDL significantly increased in the treatment groups (prophylactic and therapeutic phases) compared to the positive control. When both phases were compared, total cholesterol and triglycerides showed significant (p<0.05) difference in concentration in groups fed with 400 mg/kg, 200 mgkg while LDL-C showed significant (p<0.05) variation between the two phases only at 400 mg/kg body weight. The extracts were also found to significantly (p<0.05) reduce the atherogenic status of the albino rats in both phases of treatment and between each treatment phase.

Conclusion: Findings from this study suggest that Costus afer possesses the ability to regulate paracetamol induced dyslipidaemia and improve the anti-atherogenic status of treated albino rats.