Chivandi, ElitonMhosva, YvonneNyakudya, Trevor TapiwaNkomozepi, Pilani2022-09-072022-09-072022-01Chivandi, E., Mhosva, Y., Nyakudya, T. et al. 2022, 'Ficus thonningii stem bark extracts prevent high fructose diet induced increased plasma triglyceride concentration, hepatic steatosis and inflammation in growing Sprague-Dawley rats', Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 205-212, doi : 10.31858/0975-8453.13.2.205-212.0975-8453 (print)0976-2779 (online)10.31858/0975-8453.13.2.205-212https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/87094BACKGROUND : Ficus thonningii extracts exhibit hypoglycaemic, hypolipidaemic and antioxidant activitiese investigated the potential of methanolic F. thonningii stem-bark extracts (MEFT) to protect growing Sprague-Dawley (SD) against high-fructose diet-induced Metabolic Derangements (MD) in a model mimicking childreenic diets. METHODS : Eighty (40 males; 40 females) 21-days old SD rat pups were randomly allocated to and administered, for 8 weeks, five treatment regimens: 1-standard rat chow (SC)+water (PW), 2-SC+20% (w/v) fructose solution (FS), 3-SC+FS+fenofibrate at 100 mg/kg bwt/ day, 4-SC+FS+low dose MEFT (LD; 50 mg/kg bwt/day) and 5-SC+FS+high dose MEFT (HD; 500 mg/kg bwt/ day). Body weight, glucose load tolerance, fasting blood glucose and triglyceride, plasma insulin concentration, sensitivity to insulin, liver mass and fat content, steatosis and inflammation were determined. RESULTS : Fructose had no effect on the rats’ growth, glucose and insulin concentration, glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity (P>0.05) but increased triglycerides in females; induced hepatic microsteatosis and inflammation in both sexes but macrosteatosis in females (P<0.05). In females, MEFT prevented fructose- induced plasma triglyceride increase. Low dose MEFT increased liver lipid content in females (P<0.05). The MEFT protected the rats against hepatic steatosis and inflammation but fenofibrate protected against hepatic microsteatosis. CONCLUSION : MEFT can d as prxis against dietary fructose-induced elements of MD but caution musaken as low dose MEFT increases hepatic lipid acc in females predisposing to fatty liver disease.en© 2022 Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy All Rights Reserved. The articles in Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy are open access articles licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License.Ficus thonningii extractsSprague-Dawley rat (Rattus norvegicus)Metabolic derangementEthnomedicineObesityLipid profileLiver diseaseArticle