Curbing Appetite Through Hoodia Gordonii – a Herbal Appetite Suppressant

Curbing Appetite Through Hoodia Gordonii – a Herbal Appetite Suppressant Hoodia gordonii (Asclepiadaceae), a multi stemmed succulent indigenous to South Africa is now a commercial herbal appetite suppressant. The appetite suppressing effect of the organic extract of the crude powder (dichloromethane–methanol extract) was investigated on groups of young adult male Sprague Dawley rats for 5 days. Rats were randomly divided into control and test groups (n=12 rats / group). Food consumption decreased by 20-25% as observed with an oral dose of 100 mg/kg body weight. Within 2 hours of administration of extract, food intake (FI) reduced by 15% compared to basal intake. Complete recovery in FI took place within 12 hours of stopping the treatment. Regulatory hormones viz. Ghrelin, Leptin, Insulin, Neuropeptide Y (NPY) and Thyroid hormones responsible for metabolic regulation were measured in blood plasma at the end of the experiment. The levels of the peptide Ghrelin, that increase with hunger, were found to be lower in comparison to the control while those of Leptin were elevated indicating the anorectic action of the herb. The insulin level reduced slightly which may be in response to the lower FI in the test group. Plasma NPY levels decreased significantly (P<0.05) as compared to control group. A rise in the circulating plasma T3 and T4 hormones was also found. These results indicate that the organic phase of Hoodia gordonii has an anorexigenic action which could be due to both central and peripheral regulation and therefore could be used as a supplement for appetite suppression. No. of Words: 243 Authors:Swati Jain B.Sc., M.Sc., (Food and Nutrition), PhD pursuing (Nutritional Biochemistry) Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, DRDO, Delhi, India,110054 R H-39, DRDO Complex, Timarpur,Delhi, India ,110054 jswati92@yahoo.com +91-9891105819 Som Nath Singh DIPAS, DRDO ,Delhi, India,110054 divnutrition@yahoo.com .Presenter: Swati Jain