STIGMASTEROL ATTENUATES OXIDATIVE STRESS IN SOME ORGANS OF Trypanosoma congolense INFECTED RATS

Stigmasterol has shown positive effects against Trypanosoma congolense, which induced organ pathological changes in rats. Therefore, to unravel a possible mechanism of this action, the effect of stigmasterol on oxidative stress in the liver, kidney, spleen, and heart of T. congolense infected rats was investigated. Rats were infected with T. congolense and on day 11 post-infection, the infected rats were treated with 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight (BW) of stigmasterol for 14 days. At the end of the experiment, the levels of reduced glutathione, malondialdehyde as well as the activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase were analyzed in the homogenates of liver, kidney, spleen, and heart obtained from the stigmasterol-treated infected rats and compared to non-infected and infected non-treated controls. The data showed evidence of induction of oxidative stress in all the organs caused by the infection. Treatments with the 100 and 200 mg/kg BW of stigmasterol attenuated the T. congolense induced oxidative stress in all the organs as indicated by significant (P < 0.05) amelioration of the levels of most of the markers. A similar trend was observed with diminazene aceturate, used as a standard drug. It is concluded that stigmasterol could attenuate T. congolense induced oxidative stress which might be due to a direct free radical scavenging effect or a consequence of the reported parasite clearance.