Comparative effects of palm oil and palm oil mill effluent on hepatic and renal biomarkers levels in blood plasma of normo rats

The comparative effects of palm oil and palm oil mill effluent (POME) on hepatic and renal biomarkers levels in normo rats were investigated. Diets were prepared from palm oil and POME respectively, an oil-free diet was also prepared. They were fed together with pelletized mouse chows to male albino rats for six weeks respectively. The rats were monitored daily for food and water intake, and body weight. At the end of the sixth week, the rats were fasted overnight and sacrificed by cervical dislocation. Blood was collected by cardiac puncture and centrifuged to obtain plasma. The plasma was analyzed to evaluate alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), creatinine, urea and albumin. Food intake and weight gain were lowest in rats fed palm oil and POME respectively without altering food efficiency ratio. Feeding of palm oil caused an elevated level in all the studied hepatic biomarkers, while rats fed POME had the least elevated levels. POME caused a significant increase in creatinine and urea levels compared to the groups fed on palm oil. However, palm oil fed rats had higher levels of albumin. Results from this study indicates that consumption of palm oil could be more hepatoxic than POME, while consumption of POME may pose renal dysfunctions.