Antioxidant and biochemical evaluation of Thaumatococcus daniellii seeds in rat

Abstract

Background and Objective: Despite numerous reports of medicinal uses of Thaumatococcus daniellii (T. daniellii) plant, there remains a dearth of information on the in vivo effect of the seed. In this study, the antioxidant and biochemical effects of T. daniellii seeds in the liver and kidney of male wister rats were assessed. Materials and Methods: Seeds were macerated with ethanol and filtrate was concentrated to yield an ethanolic crude extract. Rats were orally dosed with vitamin C, 500, 1000 and 1500 mg kg-1 of the extracts for 14 days. Antioxidant and biochemical parameters were evaluated. Liver histology was examined. Data were subjected to one-way analysis of variance and expressed as Mean±SEM. Results: It was observed that T. daniellii seed reduced the amount of total body weight gain but did not have any effect on organ weight (p<0.05). Treatment also resulted in significant (p<0.05) increase in hepatic SOD and GSH. It was only at the highest dose that renal GSH increased significantly (p<0.05). These antioxidant effects were associated with maintaining bilirubin concentration and reducing AST activity in the liver (p<0.05). Histopathological observations were in correlation with the biochemical results showing that there was no pathologic abnormality. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that T. daniellii seed is a source of natural antioxidant and may be exploited for the treatment of kidney and liver diseases.