Abstract
Hymenocardia acida tul leaf and stem bark are used in treatment of several diseases in Africa. We examined the chemical constituents of the stem bark extract and its effects on some antioxidant indices and esterases in Wistar rats. Hymenocardia acida stem bark extract (HASBE) was obtained by Soxhlet extraction using methanol, followed by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), Fourier-Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and Gas Chromatography-Flame ionization detection (GC-FID). Forty-eight male Wistar rats were assigned into eight groups (6 rats each), and administered orally with normal saline (Control), 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350 mg/kg of HASBE twice per week for eight weeks. The rats were sacrificed under chloroform anesthesia, and kidneys and heart were excised, and processed into homogenates. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, lipid peroxidation (LPO), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and carboxylesterases (CES) were determined spectrophotometrically. The AAS of HASBE detected Cobalt, Copper, Zinc, Iron, Nickel, Chromium, Manganese and Magnesium. The FT-IR shows four peaks as 2961.4, 2926.0, 1056.7 and 1034.3 cm-1, while UV shows absorbance between 250 nm and 650 nm. The HPLC identified orientin, β-sitosterol, rutin and betulinic acid, while GC-FID identified rutin, orientin, stigmasterol, hymenocardine and homopterocarpin as prominent compounds. The SOD significantly (p < 0.05) reduced in kidneys, while catalase was elevated in kidney and heart, with an increase in LPO level only in heart, relative to controls. The GPx, AChE and CE activities in kidneys were increased by HASBE, whereas, CE activity was lowered in heart. This study has demonstrated that Hymenocardia acida stem bark extract majorly contains iron, nickel, orientin, rutin, stigmasterol, hymenocardine, β-sitosterol, homopterocarpin and betulinic acid, and could possibly modulate the activities of antioxidant and esterase enzymes in kidney and heart of Wistar rats.