Nutrient, Bioactive Components and Effects of Ethanol Extracts of Annona muricata Leaves and Fagara zanthoxyloide Roots on Zidovudine-Induced Oxidative Stress in Wistar Rats

The study was designed to determine the nutrient, bioactive components and the effects of ethanol extracts of the leaves of Annona muricata (AM) and the roots of Fagara zanthoxyloide (FZ) on zidovudine-induced oxidative stress in wistar albino rats. Wistar albino rats were divided into four groups of five rats each. Groups 2-4 were induced with 100 g/ml/Kg bw of zidovudine (ZDV) and varying concentrations of the extracts (group 3 and 4); while group 1 served as the control. The results of the proximate composition of both plants showed the following ranges: moisture (10.32-18.30%), ash (0.65-9.45%), crude protein (1.38-10.54%), crude fat (2.35-9.73%), crude fibre (3.00-15.53%) and carbohydrate (50.19-65.23%). Iron was the highest mineral present in all the samples followed by zinc and calcium for FZ and AM respectively; while folate and ascorbic acid were the highest vitamins present in both samples. Phytochemical composition results revealed higher concentrations of alkaloids, flavonoid and phenols in the leaves and roots of both samples. Acute toxicity study revealed no short term toxicity below 6 g/ml/Kg bw for the leave extract of Annona muricata and 4 g/ml/Kg bw for the root extract of Fagara zanthoxyloide. Administration of zidovudine to albino rats resulted in a significant increase (p≤0.05) in biomarkers of oxidative stress; while subsequent treatment with ethanol extracts of the leaves of AM and roots of FZ reduced the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione. The splenic histology revealed atrophy, early onset necrosis and reduction in sinusoidal pore size in the negative control group which were absent in the extract treatment groups indicating a protective effect conferred by extracts against oxidative stress. The study, therefore suggests that these plants may play some key roles in alleviating salient nutritional, physiological and oxidative stress related challenges.