Assessment of the effect of Watermelon and Aloe Vera on Cadmium Induced Heart Damage in Adult Wistar Rats (Rattus novergicus)

The aim of the study was to investigate the antioxidant property of watermelon and aloe vera against cadmium damaging effect on the heart and the packed cell volume of the blood. Thirty five Wistar rats were obtained and acclimatized for two weeks. They were randomly divided into 7 groups, five rats each. Animal in individual groups were induced intraperitoneally with 3.0 mg/kg of cadmium sulphate and were treated with aloe vera and water melon at 40 mg/kg, animals in control group received 3.0 mg/kg of PBS as shown in Table 1. The research lasted for 4 weeks. The enzymes analysis on antioxidant activity and packed cell volume was considered statistically significant at (p<0.05) based on Mean±SEM. The packed cell volume significantly increased for watermelon group 5 and aloe vera group 6 when compared to normal control group 1. Group 3, 6 and 7 were statistically significant when compared to the mean value of the normal control while group 4 and 5 were not statistically significant for Malondialdehyde (MDA), Catalase (CAT) and Glutathione peroxidase (GPx). None was statistically significant for Superoxide Dismutase (SOD). Group 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 were statistically significant for acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The results from this experiment demonstrate the high degree of potency in aloe vera over watermelon in preventing oxidative damage due to cadmium interaction with the animal system. Watermelon only was not able to provide significant benefit against cadmium damaging activities. However, in combination with aloe vera, watermelon can be effective against cadmium activity and they are dose dependent, which justified the antioxidant properties of both plants extract to ameliorate cadmium toxicity in the heart tissue.