Research Article

Total Protein and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors of Normal Wistar Rats Exposed to Moderate Dose of Aqueous Extract of Dialium guineense Stem Bark

Abu OD.1* Awhin EP.2 Ekugum E.3 

• .1Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria 
• .2Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Delta State University, Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria 
• .3Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Edo State Polytechnic, Usen, Edo State, Nigeria

Correspondence: Abu OD, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria; Email [email protected]

Received: December 20, 2025                                                 Published: January 17, 2026

Citation: Abu OD. Total Protein and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors of Normal Wistar Rats Exposed to Moderate Dose of Aqueous Extract of Dialium guineense Stem Bark. Int J Bio and Med. 2026;1(1):27–34. 

Copyright: ©2026 Abu OD. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non commercially.

Abstract 

The health benefits of plant-derived materials are well established. However, the major setback to the use of herbal formulations in disease management is their potential toxic effect at doses administered. The present study investigated the effect of moderate dose of aqueous extract of Dialium guineense (AEDG) stem bark on total protein (TP) and cardiovascular disease risk factors of normal rats. Male albino rats (Wistar strain, n = 10) weighing between 150 and 180 g (mean weight = 165 ± 15 g) were divided into two groups (5 rats per group): control and observation groups. Rats in the observation group received 1000 mg/kg body weight, bwt, AEDG stem bark orally for twenty-eight days, and assays were performed on weekly basis. The results showed that there were no significant differences in the concentrations of total protein, total cholesterol (TC) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) throughout the period of treatment, when compared with control group (p > 0.05). However, there were significant and time-dependent reductions in the concentrations of triacylglycerol (TG), very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), relative to control group (p < 0.05). In addition, atherogenic coefficient and cardiovascular disease risk ratio were significantly reduced at weeks 3 and 4 (p < 0.05). These results indicate that the medicinal plant stem bark can be used as crude drug to manage diseases resulting from hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia.

Keywords: Atherogenic index, Cardiac disease, Lipids, Hypercholesterolemia, Medicinal plant

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