Comparative Study of Aqueous and Alcoholic Extracts of Roots of Bauhinia variegata Linn. on Cafeteria Diet Induced Obesity

Abstract

Background Obesity is typically characterized by excess deposition of adipose tissue. Along with dietary management, increase in physical activity, lifestyle modification, surgical intervention, drug treatment is also available which aid in weight loss. However, most of these drugs exhibit side effects like insomnia, irritability, epigastric discomfort, constipation, some are even habit-forming drugs. Hence, the present study was designed to screen, evaluate and discover newer safer anti-obesity drugs from plant sources. Materials and Methods In this study, the aqueous and 90% alcoholic extracts of roots of Bauhinia variegata Linn. were prepared and evaluated for their anti-obesity activity. Obesity was induced using the cafeteria diet in female Albino Wistar rats weighing 150-200 g. The parameters evaluated were body temperature, body weight, serum biochemical parameters, internal organ weight and histology of liver tissue. Results The results of the study show that the extracts were capable of reducing body weight, inducing thermogenesis and maintaining serum biochemical parameters. Among the extracts the aqueous extract of roots of Bauhinia variegata Linn. has shown better pharmacological activity than the alcoholic extract. Therefore, this group of animals were subjected to histological studies which showed only mild fatty liver change when compared to the positive control group. Conclusion Further studies are required for evaluating the mechanism of action, isolating the compound/s responsible for the activity, structurally elucidating the same to then formulate it into anti-obesity drug with enhanced efficacy.

Keywords: Bauhinia variegata Linn; Cafeteria diet; Anti-obesity activity; Serum biochemical parameters; Histopathological studies