ABSTRACT

This study was aimed to evaluate the intestinal and serum amylase activity of female Wistar rats administered with butanol extract of Vernonia amygdalina and high fat diet. Twenty (20)Female Wistar rats weighing between 95-112g were used for this study. The animals were kept in metal cages and left under laboratory conditions for two weeks for acclimatization, with free access to growers mash and water. The rats were randomly assigned into five[5] groups offour[4] rats each, Group 1 was the control group fed with basal diet and water While the Group 2 were fed with high fat diet only, Group 3 were treated high fat diet and low dose of lOOmg/kg Vernonia amygdalina while Group 4 was treated with high fat diet and high dose of 200mg/kg Vernonia amygdalina,the Group 5 was the standard group treated with high fat diet and orlistat, they were treated for 5 weeks and were sacrificed, collecting the blood sample by cardiac puncture for laboratory analysis. The result showed a significant increase (p<0.05) in the intestinal lipase and serum amylase in the groups treated with the High fat Diet alone, HFD + V. amygdalina (lOOmg/kg), HFD+ V. amygdalina (200mg/kg) and HFD + the standard drug (Orlistat). Similarly, the serum amylase (which is an enzyme or special protein that helps in the digestion of carbohydrate) showed similar trend with the intestinal lipase, with significant rise in the wistar rats fed HFD alone compared with the rats that received the treatment, and the normal control. The rats fed HFD alone had the highest (p<0.05) mean serum amylase value (205.25±0.45 U/L), followed by those that received the HFD + Orlistat (175.96±0.19 U/L) and the extract at high dose (175.24±0.55 U/L).Therefore, to achieve an appreciable anti-hyperlipidemia activity using butanol extract of V. amygdalina extract, the low dose (lOOmg/kg) is highly recommended