Anti-stress effect of brown seaweed sargassum hystrix j. Agard ethanol extract on cold-induced stress in wistar rats

Oxidative stress is a potential cause of cell damage, which has deleterious impact on the entire body. Sargassum hystrix contains polyphenols with potential antioxidant properties. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the ethanol extract of S. hystrix on the body weight, glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride and cortisol levels of Wistar rats with cold-induced stress. In this experiment, the rats were orally administered with 150, 300, and 450 mg/kg of S. hystrix extract (SHE), while the standard anti-stress drug used was diazepam, at a dose of 0.18 mg/kg. The result showed that administeration of S. hystrix ethanol extract at various doses was able to lower the glucose, cholesterol and cortisol levels in the Wistar rats. The extract was also shown to cause a reduction in triglyceride levels similar to diazepam at doses of 300 and 450 mg/kg, while the dose of 300 mg/kg was shown to produce the most optimum anti-stress effect in Wistar rats with cold-induced stress. © 2021 the authors. © 2021 Husni et al.