Hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity of aerial parts of Moringa oleifera in prevention of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Wistar rats

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has a high incidence in Iran. In this study, identification of three antioxidants including caffeic acid, quercetin and gallic acid in leaf and stem extracts of Moringa oleifera(MO) was performed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The antioxidant properties of methanolic extracts were considered using the 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method. The effect of aerial parts of MO on NAFLD was investigated. For this, 30 adult male Wistar rats with an average weight of 185 ± 10 g were divided in to 6 groups and fed with high-fat diet (HFD) including 24 g of Corn Oil per 100 g diet (to induce fatty liver) and then treated with 2% and 4% of leaf and stem powder of MO for 8 weeks. One group was fed on the basal diet as control group. At the end, the blood tests were performed and histological changes were examined. The levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were determined. Treatment of rats with MO led to significant reduction (p < .05) in TC, TG, LDL, VLDL, ALT and AST compared to the HFD group. On the contrary, increased levels of HDL-C. Histopathological examinations demonstrated steatosis and inflammatory in HFD group liver sections. Significant decreases (p < .05) were observed in steatosis and inflammatory in groups treated with MO compared to the HFD group. This study suggests that aerial part of MO is a potential source of compounds with antioxidant activity, hence it can prevent NAFLD.