Effects of Semen cassiae on nutritive obesity in rats

    REN Aiª²Hong, YAN Junª²Bao, HU Yongª²Mei, MENG Li, L¦a Heª²Ping

    Department of physiology, Medical College, He nan Technology University£¬ Luoyang 471003, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To observe the effects of water extract of Semen cassiae on nutritive obesity in rats. METHODS: Nutritive obesity model in rats was made by high nutritive diet. Various concentrations of Semen cassiae water extracts were drunk by the rats at physiological state. The body mass, metabolism of glucose and lipids and anti-lipid peroxidation of rats were observed. RESULTS: 60 g/L concentration of water extract of Semen cassiae significantly reduced the body mass [(336.0¡À22.1) g to ( 299.5¡À20.3) g, P<0.01] and Lee¬ðs index (358.6¡À8.6 to 341.8¡À7.3, P<0.05), lowered the fasting serum levels of triglyceride [(1.4¡À1.3) to (0.8¡À0.4 ) mmol/L, P<0.05], insulin [(35.6¡À13.4) to (22..8¡À9.5) mU/L, P<0.01] and malondialdehyde (MDA)[ (4.6¡À0.7 to 2.9¡À0.3) nmol/L, P<0.01], decreased the level of free fatty acids (FFA) (339¡À88) ¦Ìmol/L¡ú (283¡À64) ¦Ìmol/L and raised the total anti-oxidation capacity (T-AOC) (10.7¡À1.4) kU/L¡ú(11.7¡À1.0) kU/L. CONCLUSION: Water extract of Semen cassiae can significantly inhibit the weight gain of high-nutriment-fed rats, improve or correct the insulin resistance and enhance the effect of anti-lipid peroxidation by metabolically regulating actions on glucose and lipids. ......