Molopo, Malehope Churchill2020-09-282020-09-282019https://hdl.handle.net/10539/29731A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, School of Physiology in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Medicine Johannesburg, South Africa, 2019Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a collection of metabolic disorders that predispose to the development of chronic diseases. Risk factors include obesity, insulin resistance, increased blood glucose levels and increased blood triglycerides, leading to the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). MetS epidemic is a worldwide health concern and it is estimated that a quarter of the world’s population has MetS. This high prevalence adds to the economic burden on the health sector. There has been a worldwide increase in the consumption of fructose rich diets, which are associated with MetS development. Management for MetS includes weight loss, increased physical activity, healthy dietary choices and administration of pharmacological agents. Most people rely on medicinal plants which have biologically active phytochemicals. It is important to validate the efficacy and safety of medicinal plants, and their constituent phytochemicals. This study investigated whether the phytochemical quercetin, could prevent the poor metabolic outcomes associated with the consumption of a high fructose diet. Thirty eight, 21 days old, male Sprague Dawley rats were used and randomly divided into 5 dietary groups and given respective treatments for 10 weeks. Group C (plain water + plain gelatine cubes), group Q (plain water + 20 % quercetin gelatine cubes), group F (20 % fructose solution + plain gelatine cubes), group FQ (20 % fructose solution + 100 mg/kg quercetin gelatine cube), and group FFe (20 % fructose solution + 100 mg/kg fenofibrate gelatine cube). After the 10-week feeding period, all rats were terminated and blood and tissue samples collected. Fructose consumption induced MetS risk factors (insulin resistance, increased glucose blood levels, elevated triglyceride levels) in rats given 20 % fructose solutions. Quercetin was able to significantly (p < 0.05) reduce high fructose diet induced hepatic inflammation, and steatosis. Additionally, rats given quercetin showed significantly decreased (p < 0.01) insulin levels and significantly increased (p < 0.0001) adiponectin compared to rats from the positive control group (FFe). There were no significant changes in clinical markers of general health, lipoprotein profile and bone density of all rat groups (p > 0.05). Dietary supplementation with quercetin should be further explored as a prophylactic intervention in the fight against the poor metabolic outcomes associated high fructose diets.enThesis