Antioxidant activity of Allanblackia floribunda trunk bark ethanol extract on alcohol-induced hypertensive rats

Oxidative stress is involved in many chronic diseases. The ethanol extract of Allanblackia floribunda (A. floribunda) was investigated for the antioxidant and antihypertensive activities on alcohol hypertensive rat’s model. The free radical scavenging and antioxidant activities of plant extracts were evaluated in vitro by DPPH and ABTS assays, the ferric reducing antioxidant power assay and chelating ability on ferrous ions. Alcohol-induced hypertensive rats (AHR) were obtained by oral administration of ethanol (3 g/kg/day during 8 weeks) followed by 4 weeks of concomitant treatment with A. floribunda (100 and 200 mg/kg) and ethanol. Hemodynamic parameters were evaluated using the direct cannulation method. The effects of the extract on lipid profile, kidney and liver functions as well as oxidative stress markers were evaluated using colorimetric method. A. floribunda significantly reduced the mean blood pressure. The plant extract protected against the deterioration in lipid profile, reduced kidney and liver impairment, malondialdehyde (MDA) and increased the reduced glutathione (GSH) concentrations in organs. The total phenolic content of A. floribunda extract was found to be 76772.5 µg equivalent catechin/g. Antioxidant potential of the extract was higher with DPPH assay as compared to ABTS assay. These results suggest that the protective effect of the ethanol extract of A. floribunda in alcohol-induced hypertension was in part due to its antioxidant properties.