Effect of ethanol leaf extract of Moringa oleifera on D-galactose induced changes in lipid profile of aged Wistar rats

Uncontrolled hyperlipidaemia is linked to some age-related diseases like obesity, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular diseases. To examine the blood lipid profile in wistar rats, this study employed D-galactose-induced aging as a model. The lipid profiles were analysed using standard methods. Thirty (30) male albino rats were randomly assigned into five (5) groups of six (6) rats each and fed with basal diets. Group 1 and 5 which served as the young and adult controls respectively received basal diet only while the others were administered D-galactose (150mg/kg) and Moringa oleifera extract (MOLE-200mg/kg and 400mg/kg) respectively for eight (8) weeks. At the end of the study rats were sacrificed and blood samples were collected. At week 0, the results of the total cholesterol concentrations (98.81 ± 6.43), TAG (69.15 ± 1.34), LDL-cholesterol (31.80 ± 4.10), VLDL-cholesterol (13.83 ± 0..27) and HDL-cholesterol (35.64 ± 2.81) in rats administered M. oleifera leaf extract, D-galactose and distilled water respectively showed no significant (P > 0.05) difference across all the groups but at week 8 treatment with high dose of MOLE resulted in a significant (P ≤ 0.05) decrease in total serum cholesterol (112.45 ± 3.05), TAG (114.05 ± 5.47), LDL-cholesterol (19.66 ± 4.06) concentrations relative to the D-galactose only treated group. Conversely, HDL-cholesterol concentration was significantly increased (P ≤ 0.05) following treatment with both low (69.53 ± 1.94) and high dose (69.99 ± 2.64) of MOLE relative to the D-galactose (63.65 ± 2.54) treated group. These results suggest that Moringa oleifera leaf extract exerts an anti-hyperlipidaemic effect against D-galactose-induced toxicity and thus could confer protection against aging.