Lemon Juice Gavage Promoted Body Weight Loss and a Reduction of Visceral Fats and Blood Lipids in the Animal-Fat-Fed Wistar Rats

Abstract

The increasing consumption of animal fat in developing countries encourages the need for exploration of natural products that can reduce associated cardiovascular risk factors in consumers.

This study assessed the effect of lemon juice on body weight, visceral fat, and blood lipid levels in Wistar rats under an animal fat diet. A total of 18 Wistar rats (8 months old) were randomly sorted into three groups of six rats each. Group 1, the control, received a basic diet. In addition to a basic diet, Group 2 received 6mg/g bw of animal fat, and Group 3 received 6mg/g bw of animal fat and 0.003ml/g bw of lemon juice by gastric gavage for 28 days. Assessments were carried out on the weight of the body, liver, and abdominal fat. Moreover, histology of abdominal fat, liver, and heart, size of fat cells, and plasma level of glucose and lipids.

The rat pre-treatment body weight varied insignificantly (P>0.05) among the studied groups. However, body weight gain as well as the weight of the liver and abdominal fat were significantly reduced in rats fed both the lemon juice and animal fat compared to rats fed a similar diet without the juice (P<0.05). The degree of fat infiltration in the liver parenchyma, hepatocytes, cardiomyocytes, and coronary arteries, and the sizes of abdominal adipocytes were significantly reduced (P<0.05) in rats fed with animal fat and lemon juice compared to rats on the same diet without the juice. Moreover, while other cholesterol types remained unaffected, the triglyceride (TG) level was significantly reduced in rats fed with both the animal fat and lemon juice compared to rats eating a similar diet without the juice.

In this study, a treatment with lemon juice promoted a significant reduction in body weight, blood triglycerides, fat cell sizes, and fat levels in hepatocytes and coronary arteries in the animal fat-fed rats.