Antioxidant activities of Celosia argentea Linn and Gongronema latifolium Benth and the antihyperlipidemic effect of the vegetable supplemented diets on fat induced hyperlipidemic rats

The present study investigated the antioxidant activities and antihyperlipidemic effects of varying levels of inclusion of processed green leafy vegetables (Celosia argentea and Gongronema latifolium) on high fat diet-induced hyperlipidemic rats. The antioxidant assay revealed that the unblanched C. argentea had higher total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, DPPH·, ABTS·+, OH· and NO· radical scavenging activities than the blanched Celosia argentea. Conversely, the blanched G. latifolium had higher antioxidant activities than the unblanched G. latifolium. Seventy-five (75) male albino rats of average weight 180 ± 20 g were divided into fifteen (15) groups of five (5) animals each. The rats were fed for 4 weeks on diets specially formulated to contain 5%, 10% and 15% by weight of the leaves of the blanched and unblanched vegetables. lipid profile (TC: total cholesterol, TG: triglycerides, LDL: low density lipoproteins, VLDL: very low density lipoproteins and HDL: high density lipoproteins) and oxidative stress indicators were evaluated. The serum TC, TG, LDL and VLDL which significantly increased (p < 0.0001) in hyperlipidemic control group were significantly decreased (p < 0.05, 0.0001) at all levels of inclusion of the vegetal diets. HDL also increased significantly (p < 0.0001) in groups fed with the vegetal diets. In addition, glutathione peroxidase, reduced glutathione, catalase and superoxide dismutase activities significantly increased (p < 0.05, 0.0001); while TBARS significantly decreased at all levels of inclusion of the vegetal diets. These results suggested that incorporation of C. argentea and G. latifolium into the diet most especially blanched C. argentea and unblanched G. latifolium may have therapeutic potentials in the management of hyperlipidemia and associated complications.