Comparative Study of Water and Oil Extracts of Moringa(Moringa oleifera) Leaves on Immune Response and Hepatic Oxidative Status in Rats

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigatethe anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities of water and oil (ethanolic) extracts ofMoringa oleifera (M.oleifera)leaves supplementation against the effects of paracetamol (APAP) overdose on rats. Nutritional analysis of M.oleifera leaves revealed that each 100g M. oleifera leaves contained78.463mg moisture, 9.486 g ash, 26.7gprotein, 30.629g carbohydrates,3.8 g fat and19.556g fiber. Leaves contain also significant amount of different minerals. While HPLC analysis of M.oleifera leaves extract revealed that each 1ml of M.oleifera leaves ethanolic extractcontains many phenolic compounds like gallic acid 30.580mg, catechol 24.150mg, caffeic acid 12.660mg and resorcinol 8.130 mg. Eighty male adult albino rats of Sprague-Dawely strains weighing 150±5g were subjected to experimentation for 4 weeks.APAP administration at a dose of (1g/kg body weight) daily by oral intubationcaused a state of oxidative stress and inflammation that suppress the immune function .While administration ofwater or ethanolic extract at the tested doses (200,300 and 400mg/Kg body weight) by oral intubation with APAPdose resulted in a significant decreasein the levels of hepatic protein carbonyl group (PCG), malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) on comparison with APAP control group. In addition, there were a significant increase in reduced blood glutathione (GSH) level, serum catalase (CAT), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), and glutathione reductase (GR) activities as well as serum immunoglobulins (IgG and IgM) levels compared to APAP control group at (p≤0.05). The inflammatory markers likeserum tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF- α), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) levels and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity were significantly decreased in APAP intoxicated rats that supplemented with water or ethanolic extract ofM.oleifera leaves in comparison with APAP control group. The study revealed the hepatoprotectiveactivity of water and ethanolic extracts ofM.oleifera leaves on the liver. Serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (γGT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities were significantly decreased in supplemented groups when compared with APAP control group. Administration of APAP also caused a significant decrease in hemoglobin (Hb) level, red blood cells (RBC’s) and plateletes (PLT)counts but increased the white blood cells count (WBC’s) at (p≤0.05) while administration ofwater or ethanolic extract ofM.oleiferaleaves caused a significant improvement in complete blood picture (CBC).Water and ethanolic extracts ofM.oleifera leaves caused noticeable improvementsin the microscopical examination of liver and spleen tissues compared to APAP intoxicated rats. It could be concluded that administration of water or ethanolic extractwith APAP dose for 4 weeks resulted in a significant improvement in oxidative status, inflammatory markers, liver function enzymes activities, the immune response and CBC as well as enhancement of hepatic and spleen architectures.Theethanolic extract was more effective especially at the highest dose.