Abstract

Effect of Irvingia gabonensis fruit juice administration on serum lipid profile of sodium fluoride (NaF)-intoxicated rats was investigated. Twenty-four (24) male Wistar rats divided into four groups of six (6) animals each - one control and three intoxicated groups were used. The normal control (NC) group received only standard pelletized diet and water. All three intoxicated groups received 20 mgkg^-1 bodyweight of NaF daily by gavage for 35 days. While the first group (NaFC group) received only NaF, the second in addition was treated with I. gabonensis fruit juice (I. gabonensis group). The third received NaF plus 15 mgkg^-1 body weight Quercetin + 100 mgkg^-1 bodyweight vitamin E (Q+Vit E group). Result showed that LDL-C was significantly elevated, while HDL-C was markedly reduced in the NaFC group. In the I. gabonensis-treated group, lipoprotein phenotypes were normalized, with HDL-C increasing from 38.92±9.28 mgdl^-1 in NaF intoxicated group (NaFC) to 65.14±5.33 mgdl^-1, which was even higher than 60.83±4.56 mgdl^-1 obtained in the standard (Q+Vit E) group. Low density lipoprotein-cholesterol concentration also reduced from 17.3±3.2 mgdl^-1 in NaF-intoxicated group to 7.5±1.0 mgdl^-1 in I. gabonensis-treated group, which compared favourably with that of the standard. Furthermore, NaF toxicity resulted in the elevation of atherogenic index in the NaFC group. This was significantly (p<0.05) lowered in all other groups. The total non-HDLcholesterol and LDL/HDL ratio were significantly reduced in I. gabonensis-treated rats. This tends to suggest that the juice of I. gabonensis may be useful in alleviating and preventing cardiovascular diseases.

Key words: Sodium flouride, Irvingia gabonensis, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL).