ABSTRACT
Stress is a prime factor for most of the illnesses in humanlife Chronic stress exposure has been reported to cause anatomical and physiological brain damage, immunosuppression, infertility and damage to various internal organs. The function of stress hormones; corticosterone and epinephrine is believed to preserve homeostasis but these hormones may turn out to be detrimental in excess or if they persist in blood when no more required. Thirty (30) Adult wistar rats of both sexes (n=30), weighing 150-200 g were divided into 3 groups each consisting of a male and female subgroup and given the following treatments once a day for 21 days: Normal control group received 1 ml distilled water orally, the restraint stress (RS) group were exposed to chronic restraint stress 6 hours daily while the Apple cider vinegar (ACV)-treated group received 4 ml/kg of apple cider vinegar orally in addition to chronic restraint stress 6 hours daily. The rats were sacrificed after the experimental period and blood was collected via cardiac puncture and the sera obtained and used for setermination of serum level of Corticosterone and Epinephrine as well as Malondialdehyde, Superoxide Dismutase and Catalase activity. Preliminary phytochemical screening on apple cider vinegar gave positive tests for flavonoids, anthraquinones, sterols and triterpenoids as well as tannins. ACV (4ml/kg) showed adaptogenic activity by attenuating lipid peroxidation (p<0.05) i.e decreased serum malondialdehyde level (655.52 nmol/mg of protein and 492.92 nmol/mg of protein in the male and female rats respectively) while upregulating endogenous superoxide dismutase activity (26.52 U/ml in male rats and 24.8 U/ml in female rats respectively). Polyphenols and flavonoids in ACV may have ameliorated existing lipid peroxidation and enhanced endogenous antioxidant enzyme activity in response to restraint procedure. However, ACV (4ml/kg) did not decrease (p<0.05) serum levels of stress hormones corticosterone (315.43 ng/ml and 334 ng/ml) and epinephrine (38.14 pg/ml and 42 pg/ml) in male and female rats respectively. Females showed a higher stress response with respect to the stress hormones but this was inconsistent with the antioxidant enzymes.In conclusion, ACV is a potential adaptogen and response to anti-stress therapy in chronic restraint stress wistar rats may be similar in both sexes.