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Antihyperlipidemic Effect of Methanolic Extract from Opuntia joconostle Seeds in Mice Fed a Hypercholesterolemic Diet

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the hypolipidemic effect of a methanolic extract from Opuntia joconostle seeds fed to mice in a hypercholesterolemic diet. Acute toxicity of the methanolic extract was investigated by an established method. Phenolic composition and antioxidant activity were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography and DPPH, respectively. The total phenolic content of Opuntia joconostle seeds was 47.85 ± 1.29 mg gallic acid equivalents/g dry weight. The main phenolic compounds were identified as quercetin, rutin, and cafeic acid. Percent inhibition of DPPH+ was 49.76 ± 0.49 %. The oral LD50 for the methanolic extract from the Opuntia joconostle seeds was >5,000 mg/kg BW. Mice fed a hypercholesterolemic diet for six days exhibited significantly (P ≤ 0.001) higher plasma lipid levels than mice fed a normal diet. Remarkably, supplementation with methanolic extract from Opuntia joconostle at doses of 1, 2, and 5 g/kg body weight significantly (P ≤ 0.001) prevented the increase in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides level, and atherogenic index. Similar concentrations of the HDL cholesterol were observed in both treated and control groups. A significant dose-dependent reduction in lipid levels was noted for treated groups compared to the hypercholesterolemic group. We attribute this result to the seeds’ phenolic composition. This methanolic extract has potential to be included in short-term hypercholesterolemia treatment regimens as it exhibits hypolipidemic activity with no apparent toxic manifestations.

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Abbreviations

AI:

Atherogenic index

BW:

Body weight

DPPH+ :

2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl

DW:

Dry weight

GAE:

Gallic acid equivalents

HDL-C:

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol

LDL-C:

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol

LD50 :

Median lethal dose

ME:

Methanolic extract

TC:

Total cholesterol

TPC:

Total phenolic content

TG:

Triglycerides

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Acknowledgments

This research was partly funded by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) scholarship no. 174690, Secretaria de Investigación y Posgrado-IPN Proyect Number 20100788, Comisión de Operación y Fomento de Actividades Académicas del IPN (COFAA-IPN), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México and The Ohio State University, Food Industries Center. We thank M.S. Maria Elena Pahua-Ramos for support in the hypercholesterolemic studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ingeniería Bioquímica, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Carpio y Plan de Ayala s/n, Colonia Santo Tomas, 11340, Delegación Miguel Hidalgo, Distrito Federal, México

    Obed Osorio-Esquivel & Alicia Ortiz-Moreno

  2. Departamento de Farmacia, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Av. Wilfrido Massieu s/n, esq. Manuel L. Stampa, Col. Unidad Profesional Adolfo López Mateos, Del. Gustavo A. Madero, 07738, México, D.F., México

    Leticia Garduño-Siciliano

  3. Food Science Department, The Ohio State University, 2015 Fyffe Road, 43210, Columbus, OH, USA

    Valente B. Álvarez

  4. Departamento de Farmacia, Facultad de Química, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Paseo Colon esq. Paseo Tollocan, Col. Residencial Colón, 50120, Toluca, Estado de México, México

    María Dolores Hernández-Navarro

Authors
  1. Obed Osorio-Esquivel
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  2. Alicia Ortiz-Moreno
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  3. Leticia Garduño-Siciliano
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  4. Valente B. Álvarez
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  5. María Dolores Hernández-Navarro
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Correspondence to Alicia Ortiz-Moreno.

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Osorio-Esquivel, O., Ortiz-Moreno, A., Garduño-Siciliano, L. et al. Antihyperlipidemic Effect of Methanolic Extract from Opuntia joconostle Seeds in Mice Fed a Hypercholesterolemic Diet. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 67, 365–370 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-012-0320-2

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