Protective Effect of Costus afer on Lipid Profile and Hepatic Damage in Ethanol - Induced Liver Cirrhosis in Rats

Aim: The study is to investigate the impact of Costus afer methanolic stem extract on lipid metabolic profiles and bilirubin levels in alcohol-induced liver cirrhosis progression in rats.

Materials and Methods: Male wistar strain albino rats were randomly divided into five groups: Control (normal feed and water only), Costus afer control (CA), Ethanol control (Ethanol), ethanol + Costus afer (60mg) treated rats (CA + ETHANOL) and ethanol + Costus afer (120mg) treated rats (CACA + ETHANOL). Serum levels of lipids and bilirubin were measured.

Results: The result showed that ethanol only administration caused triglyceride, cholesterol, low density lipoprotein and bilirubin to increase by 46.1%, 64.3%, 10.71% and 0.18% respectively compared to control rats (p<0.05). High density lipoprotein was shown to have decreased by 11.2% compared to the control.

Conclusion: Evidence suggests that oxidative stress is involved in the pathophysiology of complications and alcoholic diseases. Co-treatment with the extract modestly modulates the effect of ethanol to near normal.