Abstract:
Plants have been extensively used traditionally for medicinal purposes and to provide
protections against diseases since time immemorial. Among the plants whose parts have
found wide pharmacological applications is the cheese wood, Alstonia boonei De Wild. This
work was aimed at evaluating the modulating effects of n-hexane extract of A. boonei leaves
on endogenous lipids and markers of oxidative damage in kidney and liver tissues of male
albino rats; and to quantify the fatty acid present in the leaf extract by Gas
Chromatography-Mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). Thirty adult male albino rats were used for
the experiment. There were 5 groups of 6 rats each. The Control group was fed with ad
libitum feed and water, Reference group was fed olive oil while groups 1, 2 and 3 were fed
with 100, 200 and 400mg/kg/ BW) of the extracts respectively. All administrations were done
orally for 21 days after which the dietary effects of A. boonei on the serum lipid profile and
some biochemical parameters in selected tissues of male albino rats were carried out using
Randox kits. The results of the GC-MS analysis carried out on the extract revealed that the
ratio of ω-6 to ω-3 fatty acid as 2.77, it also revealed the presence of saturated fatty acids such
as Lauric acid (0.013g%), Myristic acid (1.216g%), Palmitic acid (30.097g%) and Stearic
acid (4.513g%); monounsaturated fatty acids like Oleic acid (6.165g%) and Palmitoleic acid
(2.291g%); and polyunsaturated fatty acids like Linoleic acid (39.735g%), Linolenic acid
(14.362g%) and Arachidonic acid (0.083g%), which contribute to or ensure improved health
status. The results of the lipid modulation study showed that in all the tissues tested, A. boonei
extracts cause a significance decrease (p<0.05) in the concentrations of Total cholesterol
(92.34-63.56%), Triglycerides (85.07-38.46%), Very low density lipoprotein (83.56-54.15%),
Low density lipoprotein (92.52-58.37%) and a significant (p<0.05) increase in High density
lipoprotein (186.14-585.57%) when compared with the control. The extract also increased
significantly (p<0.05) the activities of glutathione reductase (by 12.44-29.78%), glutathione
