Table 2.

Effect of repeated administration of the decoction of Ceiba pentandra (DCP) and metformin on catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), and nitric oxide (NO) concentrations in the liver, heart, and aorta.

Parameters assayed	Organs	Control	Dexamethasone (1 mg/kg/day, i.m)
			Distilled water	DCP 75	DCP 150	Metformin
Proteins (mg/g of tissue)	Liver	235,74 ± 19,15	187,10 ± 13,61∗	204,49 ± 9,40	271,31 ± 7,70††	257,05 ± 25,68†
	Heart	82,33 ± 3,88	71,25 ± 3,25	88,24 ± 10,27	83,86 ± 2,10	81,14 ± 3,12
	Aorta	33,91 ± 3,60	26,76 ± 1,67	27,86 ± 2,01	27,13 ± 1,98	33,91 ± 2,96
Catalase (activity/g of protein)	Liver	0.098 ± 0.014	0.135 ± 0.020	0.171 ± 0.024∗	0.150 ± 0.018	0.028 ± 0.007††
	Heart	0.446 ± 0.022	0.457 ± 0.011	0.954 ± 0.175†∗	0.874 ± 0.110	0.852 ± 0.142
	Aorta	8.378 ± 1.433	8.505 ± 0.741	8.679 ± 0.650	8.736 ± 0.846	7.215 ± 0.510
SOD (μmol/g of protein)	Liver	0.036 ± 0.007	0.083 ± 0.024	0.043 ± 0.007	0.043 ± 0.011	0.035 ± 0.008
	Heart	0.173 ± 0.041	0.150 ± 0.020	0.151 ± 0.026	0.154 ± 0.047	0.187 ± 0.051
	Aorta	0.397 ± 0.118	0.680 ± 0.095	0.645 ± 0.089	0.704 ± 0.118	0.622 ± 0.030
GSH (μmol/g of protein)	Liver	10,932 ± 0,397	7,37 ± 1,756∗∗	10,758 ± 2,34†	9,203 ± 2,052	8,777 ± 0,514
	Heart	9,316 ± 1,366	9,123 ± 2,000	8,964 ± 1,188	9,409 ± 3,857	9,416 ± 1,827
	Aorta	0,413 ± 0,056	0,486 ± 0,120	0,431 ± 0,050	0,405 ± 0,101	0,324 ± 0,034†
MDA (μmol/g of tissue)	Liver	0.021 ± 0.001	0.020 ± 0.001	0.020 ± 0.002	0.017 ± 0.002	0.019 ± 0.001
	Heart	0.006 ± 0.001	0.007 ± 0.001	0.009 ± 0.001	0.009 ± 0.001	0.008 ± 0.001
	Aorta	0.001 ± 0.001	0.001 ± 0.003	0.004 ± 0.003	0.005 ± 0.001	0.003 ± 0.002
NO (μmol/g of tissue)	Liver	0,535 ± 0,038	0,437 ± 0,032	0,574 ± 0,061	0,681 ± 0,107	1,208 ± 0,115†††∗∗
	Heart	0.098 ± 0.012	0.056 ± 0.006	0.096 ± 0.027	0.089 ± 0.012	0.083 ± 0.012

Values expressed as mean ± SEM; ∗P<0.05; ∗∗P<0.01, with respect to control group. ^†P<0.05, ^††P<0.01, ^†††P<0.001, with respect to dexamethasone group.