Effects of lyophilized common buckwheat sprouts on cardiometabolic, hepatic and oxidative-stress biomarkers in male Wistar rats

High-fat dietary exposure can alter cardiometabolic and redox homeostasis. This exploratory study evaluated the effects of lyophilised common buckwheat sprouts on plasma lipid-related measures, liver parameters, redox markers and paraoxonase-1 (PON1) activity in adult male Wistar rats. Rats were randomly allocated to four dietary groups for five weeks: control, lard, buckwheat sprouts and lard plus buckwheat sprouts (six animals allocated per group). The individual rat was the experimental unit for body-weight and biochemical outcomes, whereas the cage was the experimental unit for food- and water-intake outcomes (two cages per group). After false-discovery-rate adjustment, the most robust signals included diet-dependent changes in PON1 activity, lower oxidative-damage markers with sprouts, changes in glutathione-related measures, and increased gravimetrically measured liver lipid content with both dietary factors. The findings indicate diet-dependent changes in selected biochemical and oxidative-stress biomarkers associated with cardiometabolic risk, but they do not demonstrate vascular protection, prevention of atherosclerotic lesions or a defined molecular mechanism.