Evaluation of the Possible Mechanisms of Antihypertensive Activity of Loranthus micranthus: An African Mistletoe

Table 2

Changes in cardiac arginase activity and serum total protein, creatinine, and nitric oxide in mice orally administered with the various fractions recovered from Loranthus micranthus methanolic leaf extract for 21 days.

			Treatment group
		Control	NBF-LMME	WF-LMME	CF-LMME	EAF-LMME
Parameter	Day 0	Day 21	Day 21	Day 21	Day 21	Day 21
Total Protein, g/dL	5.14±0.05^a	5.17±0.04^a	5.21±0.06^a	5.14±0.08^a	5.22±0.02^a	5.18±0.05^a
% Δ	—	(1.6)	(1.2)	(0)	(1.5)	(1.7)
Creatinine, mg/dL	0.34±0.04^a	0.37±0.03^a	0.32±0.04^a	0.40±0.07^a	0.31±0.07^a	0.38±0.03^a
% Δ	—	(8.8)	(−5.9)	(17.6)	(−8.8)	(11.2)
NO, umole/L	14.9±0.1^a	14.5±0.6^a	23.1±1.3^b	18.2±1.5^c	16.1±1.8^a	15.3±0.2^a
% Δ	—	(3.7)	(55.0)	(22.1)	(8.1)	(2.7)
Arginase, unit/mg tissue	98.3±3.8^a	101.8±1.7^b	86.8±3.5^c	90.1±1.5^d	95.7±1.5^a	97.1±3.4^a
% Δ	—	(3.6)	(−11.7)	(−8.3)	(−2.6)	(−1.2)

Data are mean ±SEM of triplicate assays. Figures in each row with different superscript letters (a, b, c, d) are significantly different (𝑃<0.05). Figures in parentheses represent percentage change (%Δ) in day 21 lipid level compared to day 0 (increase = +; decrease = −). This reflects the multiple range test statistics used to compare the mean values of variables measured across the Loranthus micrathus fraction groups.