Impact of Moringa, Rosemary and Purslane Leaves Aqueous Extracts on Metabolic Syndrome Induced by High Fat High Fructose Diet in Rats

Abstract

Over recent decades, fructose consumption has increased dramatically in industrialized countries as manufacturers have turned to using fructose instead of sucrose to sweeten processed foods and beverages. Similarly, the intake of saturated fat has risen during the same period. The current high dietary intake of fructose and saturated fat contributes to the epidemic of the metabolic syndrome, which is generally considered to be an association of impaired glucose tolerance, hypertension, dyslipidemia and central obesity. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the protective effect of moringa, rosemary and purslane leaves aqueous extracts in rats fed high fat-high fructose diet based on their content of phenolic compounds. Fifty adult male albino rats, Sprague-Dawley strain weighing 140-160g were divided into five groups; each group was composed of 10 rats and were treated as the following: group (1) normal control rats fed on balanced diet, group (2) metabolic syndrome rats fed on high fat-high fructose diet (HF-HFD). The other three groups were fed on HF-HFD and orally administered 200 mg/kg b.wt daily of moringa, rosemary and purslane leaves aqueous extracts, respectively, for 12 weeks by gastric tube. The blood glucose level was determined the day before scarification after 8 hours fasting using (Glucometer 4 Accu-chek, CA). At the end of experimental period all rats were weighed, after 12 hours fasting with water ad libitum and the length was recorded. Phenolic compounds in the tested plants extracts were analyzed, feed intake and body weight change were recorded to calculate feed efficiency ratio, anthropometric measurements such as body mass index (BMI) and lee index were calculated as w