Betacyanins are water soluble pigment commonly detected in plants. The most studied betacyanins pigment is betanin group. Betanin has been shown to inhibit lipid peroxidation and heme decomposition, suggesting that these pigments may provide protection against certain oxidative stress-related disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in hepatic and heart structure in high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-induced obese rats following supplementation of betanin. A total of 48 male Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups: corn-starch group (C), corn-starch + betanin group (CB), high-carbohydrate, high fat group (H) and high-carbohydrate, high fat + betanin (HB).The intervention with 50 mg betanin/kg of food was started for 8 weeks after 8 weeks initiation of the diet. Liver and cardiac structures were defined by histology. Results showed that betanin supplemented rats showed normalized inflammatory state with no change in collagen deposition in the heart but did not normalize the macrovesicular steatosis in the liver. The effects of betanin supplementation were more prominent in corn starch fed rats suggesting its potential in preventing fat accumulation possibly by its potent scavenging ability from the pigment, but not reversing the abnormalities related to obesity.
Mangosteen is a native fruit from Southeast Asia. It is rich in phenolic compounds like xanthones, anthocyanins and phenolic acids and also a good source of fibre and minerals. The present study aim to investigate the effects of mangosteen aril supplementation on the histopathological changes of liver and kidney in rats fed with high fat diet. Forty male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into five groups (n=8), which consisted of normal control group (NC), obese control group (OC), obese supplemented with 200 mg/kg mangosteen group (M200), obese supplemented with 400 mg/kg mangosteen group (M400) and obese supplemented with 600 mg/kg mangosteen group (M600). At the end of seven weeks, obese groups supplemented with mangosteen aril were force feed to correspond mangosteen dosage while the control groups were force feed with distilled water as placebo. At the end of seven weeks of supplementation period, all rats were sacrificed and liver and kidney were collected. All data were analyzed using one way ANOVA and the differences between groups were considered significant at p < 0.05. Results showed that supplementation of mangosteen aril in obese rats able to ameliorate the abnormalities in their liver and kidney tissue caused by high fat diet.