Zygophyllum album aqueous extract reduces oxidative damage in erythrocytes and attenuates pro-inflammatory markers in hypercholesterolemic-diabetic rats

Introduction. Zygophyllum album (Z. album) is used in traditional medicine for a long time for its anti-diabetic activities. Objective. To investigate Z. album extract supplementation effects on redox and inflammatory status in hypercholesterolemic-diabetic rats. Material and methods. Male Wistar rats (n=36), weighing 200±10g were divided into three groups (n=12). The 1st group was hypercholesterolemic (HC) by consuming cholesterol enriched diet (1%). The 2nd group was diabetic (D) by intraperi-toneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) (35 mg/kg body weight). The 3rd group was hypercholesterolemic-diabetic (HC-D). Each group was divided into two subgroups (n=6), untreated (HC, D, HC-D) and treated groups with 1% Z. album extract (HC-Za, D-Za and HC-D-Za). Results. At d28, Z. album treatment lead to a decrease in erythrocytes thiobarbituric reactive substances (TBARS) in HC-Za (-44%), D-Za (-66%) and HC-D-Za (-23%) groups. Increased erythrocytes antioxidant enzymes activities (superoxide dismu-tase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and catalase) were observed in HC-Za, D-Za and HC-D-Za (p<0.05). In plasma, interleukin (IL-1 β and IL-6) concentrations were reduced by -44, -50 and -33%, and -49, 38 and -41%, respectively in treated groups. In plasma, a decrease of TNF-α (Tumor Necrosis Factor-α), homocysteine and protein-C reactive (CRP) was observed in Z. album treated groups (p<0.05). Conclusion. Z. album reduces radical attack and improves anti-inflammatory proprieties in hypercholesterolemic-diabetic rats.