Effects Of Fresh And Fermented Aqueous Fraction Of Crude Palm Oil On Antioxidant Enzymes And Lipid Peroxidation:- Oguchukwu Prosper C

ABSTRACT Aqueous fraction of crude palm oil is the general raw water accumulated during the ■ production of palm oil, it is however used in the further production ofpalm oil and other similar products. This study was carried out to determine the toxicological effects of aqueous fraction of crude palm oil administered orally on antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxidation ofwistar albino rats. A total offorty-five (45) male wistar albino rats and eighteen (18) male wistar albino mice were used for the study. The mice where divided into two (2) major groups of nine (9) mice and used for phase I and phase II of acute toxicity according to Lorke’s method. The male wistar albino rats were divided into five (5) groups, group 1 containing five rats served as the control which was administered normal saline, groups 2 to 5 containing ten rats each were administered graded doses of fresh and fermented aqueous fraction of crude palm oil respectivelywithin the groups for 28 days and the rats were sacrificed on the 29th day and blood samples collected. Malondialdehyde concentration and the activities ofsuperoxide dismutase (SOD), Myeloperoxidase (MPO), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were subsequently determined spectrophotometricaly using collected blood samples. The result showed a significant increase (P < 0.05) in MDA concentration (an important marker of lipid peroxidation) in the groups administered with the aqueous when compared with the control group. It was found that aqueous fraction caused significant decrease (p<0.05) in catalase activity in a dose dependent manner in animals administered with the aqueous when compared to the normal control. The result also showed a significant increase (p<0.05) in superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and myeloperoxidase activities of animals administered with the aqueous fraction when compared to normal control. The study therefore reveals that aqueous fraction of crude palm oil increases lipid peroxidation and induces oxidative stress. It also reduces the activities and consequently the effectiveness of some antioxidant enzyme defense system.