International Journal of Food Safety and Public Health

International Journal of Food Safety and Public Health Vol. 7 (1), pp. 001-007, January, 2020. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Hepatoprotective and antioxidant properties of extract of Carmellia sinensis (black tea) in rats

Ojo Opeolu Oyejide¹ and Ladeji Olushola²

¹Department of Integrated Science, Federal College of Education, P.M.B. 2042, Yola, Nigeria.

²Department of Biochemistry, University of Jos, Nigeria.

Accepted 26 September, 2019

Abstract

Hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects of water extracts of black tea (Camellia sinensis) were studied in sodium oxalate treated rats. Lipid peroxidation was induced in rats by administration of 100 mg/kg body weight sodium oxalate. The protective effect of black tea was assessed by monitoring the serum and tissue levels of malondialdehyde, catalase activity, aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) as well as serum vitamin C content in the normal, control and experimental rats after 10 and 20 days of tea administration. It was observed that tea administration lowers significantly (p<0.05) the serum and tissue levels of malondialdehyde, as well as AST and ALT activities in a dose dependent manner. The serum level of vitamin C and activity of catalase in the serum and tissues were however shown to be significantly elevated (p<0.05). After 10 days of administration of 200 mg/kg body weight of tea extract, serum level of malondialdehyde was reduced from 47.855±1.050 to 32.186±0.882 nm/h, AST activity from 59±2.95 to 31±1.40 IU and ALT activity from 39±2.51 to 25±1.25 IU. Moreover, administration of 200 mg/Kg body weight of tea for 10 days caused an increase in serum catalase activity from 7 to 10% and serum vitamin C level was increased from 45.39±9.75 to 79.11±5.13 mg/100 ml. In the tissues, the same trend was observed. The result also indicated that prolonged tea administration (for 20 days) significantly increased serum vitamin C level and the activity of catalase in both the serum, liver and the kidney (p<0.05). Also, the serum and tissue levels of malondialdehyde and transaminase activities (AST and ALT) were significantly reduced (p<0.05).

Key words: Hepatoprotective effects, lipid peroxidation, antioxidant effects, Carmellia sinensis, transaminases, sodium oxalate.