EVALUATION OF ANTILIPIDEMIC POTENTIALS OF PHASEOLUS VULGARIS ON ALLOXAN-INDUCED DIABETIC RATS

Healthy diet has been known to play a key role in managing and preventing diseases. The health benefits of consuming common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) are widely acknowledged and are ascribed mostly to their high dietary fiber contents and polyphenols. Various animal experimental studies have shown that polyphenol in common beans has antioxidant properties and other biological activities. This study was designed to evaluate the antilipidemic potentials of Phaseolus vulgaris on experimentally-induced diabetic rats. 20 male rats of the Wistar strain were divided into 4 groups (n=5). Group A was the normal control; group B was the diabetic control; while groups C and D were diabetic and treated with 400mg and 800mg/kg body weight of aqueous extract of Phaseolus vulgaris seed, respectively. Blood samples were collected on the last day of the experiment for biochemical assay. Results showed a significant increase (p<0.05) in total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL-c) levels of diabetic rats when compared to the control group. Treatment of diabetic rats with Phaseolus vulgaris showed a significant reduction in the TG and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL-c) levels. However, there were no significant changes in the TC, high-density lipoprotein (HDL-c), and LDL-c when compared with the control and diabetic control. In conclusion, the results of this study showed that aqueous extract of Phaseolus vulgaris seed exhibited hypolipidemic effect on serum TG and VLDL-c but not on HDL-c, LDL-c and TC of the alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Thus, may not be concluded to have antilipidemic potential.