Mistletoe infested Moringa oleifera and Terminalia catappa leaves supplemented diet enhances antioxidant and insulin-like peptide mRNA levels in Drosophila melanogaster

Olubukola H Oyeniran; Ganiyu Oboh; Adedayo O Ademiluyi; Haruna I Umar

doi:10.1016/j.fochms.2022.100124

Mistletoe infested Moringa oleifera and Terminalia catappa leaves supplemented diet enhances antioxidant and insulin-like peptide mRNA levels in Drosophila melanogaster

Food Chem (Oxf). 2022 Jul 26:5:100124. doi: 10.1016/j.fochms.2022.100124. eCollection 2022 Dec 30.

Authors

Olubukola H Oyeniran^{1

2}, Ganiyu Oboh¹, Adedayo O Ademiluyi¹, Haruna I Umar³

Affiliations

¹ Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals and Phytomedicine Unit, Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Akure 340001, Nigeria.
² Department of Biochemistry, Federal University Oye - Ekiti P.M.B. 373, Ekiti State, Nigeria.
³ Molecular Research Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Akure 340001, Nigeria.

Abstract

Moringa and Almond are common plants of medicinal and economic value which are often infested with mistletoe. Host plants' infestation could result in major differences in their phytoconstituents and biological activities. Thus, effects of mistletoe infestation on Moringa and Almond host plants supplemented diets on mRNA expression levels of Drosophila insulin-like peptide-2 (Dilp2), heat shock protein-70 (Hsp70) and superoxide dismutase (Sod) in diabetic-like flies were evaluated using quantitative real-time PCR system. Mistletoe infestation on host leaves caused significant upregulation of Sod and significant downregulation of Hsp70 and Dilp2 genes. Hence, we opined that infestation of Moringa and Almond trees with mistletoe resulted in improved expression level of antioxidant and insulin-like peptide genes. This may be the mechanism by which host plants caused enhanced regulation of circulating glucose and oxidative stress. Therefore, consumption of mistletoe infested Moringa and Almond host leaves could possibly offer better antioxidant and hypoglycemic effects.

Keywords: Drosophila insulin-like peptide gene; Heat shock protein-70 gene; Mistletoe infestation; Moringa and Almond host plants; Superoxide dismutase gene.