Evaluation of Anti-obesity and Antioxidant Activities of Ethanolic Extract of Achyranthes aspera Leaves.

Leaves of Achyranthes aspera are tradionally used in different therapeutic applications in countries like Nepal, India, and some part of Africa. The leaves of A.aspera was investigated for total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC). The total phenolic content was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu method, while the total flavonoid content was determined using quercetein method. MSG induced obese rat were used for the anti obesity test; Body weight, biochemical, and locomotive activities were analyzed. The TPC in the leaves extract of A.aspera was calculated as 275.21mg/g and TFC was 140.4mg/g gallic acid equivalent GAE/g of dry weight. The extractive supplementation with dose of 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg were capable of lowering the body weight, triglyceride, total cholesterol and significantly increasing the locomotion of the rat. Also, the investigation shows that the ethanolic extract of leaves achyranthes aspera posses antioxidant activities and it was done using the Nitric oxide, hydroxyl radical technique and phosphomolybdenum method. The reaction showed that it is a concentration-dependent reaction and the results obtained here were expressed interms of IC50 values using gallic acid as standard. The leaves of A. aspera justified its potential as an anti-obesity agent and antioxidant, 5 groups of animals (3 rats per group) showed a significant decrease in body weight and biochemical parameters, and the increase in exercise activity and concentration dependent results of antioxidant effect. It can be said that Achyranthes aspera has both lipolytic and antioxidant properties due to its chemical constituents (flavonoids, tannins, terpinoids and alkaloids, etc.).