Preventive effects of Moringa oleifera (Lam) on hyperlipidemia and hepatocyte ultrastructural changes in iron deficient rats.

The effects of Moringa oleifera (MO), Moringaceae on hyperlipidemia and hepatocyte ultrastructural changes caused by iron deficiency were investigated. Four-week-old male Wistar-strain rats were fed a control diet based on AIN-93G (C), an iron deficient diet (FeD), a FeD + 0.5% MO (FeD-m) diet, or a FeD + MO 1% (FeD-M) diet for 4 weeks. It was found that MO reduced iron-deficient diet-induced increases in serum and hepatic lipids with dose-dependent increases of serum quercetin and kaempherol, but did not prevent anemia. By electron microscopy, in iron deficient hepatocytes, slightly swollen mitochondria and few glycogen granules were observed, but glycogen granules increased and mitochondria were normalized by treatment with MO. Furthermore, lipoproteins were observed in the Golgi complex under treatment with MO. These results suggest a possible beneficial effect of MO in the prevention of hyperlipidemia and ultrastructural changes in hepatocytes due to iron-deficiency.