Serum Lipid Profile of Adrenaline-induced Hypertensive Rats Administered with Aqueous Extract of Arachis hypogeal Testa

Background: Hypertension is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity globally. Dyslipidemia is an index of hypertension that has also been identified as a risk factor in the development of coronary heart diseases.

Aim: This research set to investigate the potency; validate the traditional claim on the use Arachi hypogeal testa in the management of hypertension in experimental rats.

Methodology: Thirty Albino Wister rats were grouped into six of five rats each. Hypertension was induced in Groups I to V animals by administering them with 0.1ml adrenaline intraperitoneally for six consecutive days. The rats in groups I to III were administered 400, 600 and 800 mg/kg body weight of Arachis hypogea testa extract respectively for seven days. Group IV was treated with a standard hypotensive drug – Propanolol, to serve as positive control, while rats in Group V were administered normal saline to serve as negative control and group VI rats were not induced with adrenaline but administered normal saline as placebo.

Results: The extract at a dose of 800 mg/kg body weight exhibited a significant effect on hypertensive rats compared to the standard drug-Propanolol in correcting the dyslipidemia caused by adrenaline - induced hypertension after seven days of treatment. There were significant increases in total cholesterol, HDL-Cholesterol, and Triglyceride levels in the group treated with 800 mg/kg body weight and the drug (P = 0.05), while the LDL-Cholesterol level for animals in the same groups were significantly lowered (P= 0.05) compared to the higher values obtained for the induced, untreated control group.

Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated the ability of the aqueous extract of A. hypogea testa to significantly decrease LDL-cholesterol and increase HDL-cholesterol concomitantly in adrenaline-induced hypertensive rats, thus justifying its use in Nigerian traditional medical practice to manage hypertension.