Psidium guajava extract reduces trypanosomosis associated lipid peroxidation and raises glutathione concentrations in infected animals

Abstract

We have investigated the effects of the aqueous leaf extract of P. guajava on reduced glutathione (GSH) and alondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations in rats experimentally infected with Trypanosoma brucei brucei. The results obtained showed that the MDA concentrations in the serum and tissues of the infected animals were significantly increased (P<0.05) relative to the control (Table 2). However there was an insignificant difference in the GSH concentrations in the brain for the infected group and the infected but treated group relative to control (P>0.05) (Table 1). In contrast, a significant decrease (P<0.05) was observed for the GSH concentrations in the liver and kidney for the infected animals compared to the uninfected control and the infected but treated groups. The MDA concentrations in the serum and tissues of the infected but treated animals were significantly reduced when compared to the infected groups (P<0.05) (Table 2). In this study it was demonstrated that the aqueous extract was able to reduce the trypanosomosis associated lipid peroxidation as well as raise the level of GSH in the infected but treated animals significantly (P<0.05). We present evidence that the ability of the leaf extract of P. guajava to lower the MDA concentrations in the treatment group may be attributed to its antioxidant properties.