You have no items in your shopping cart.
ABSTRACT
Piper guineense which is a medicinal herb has been the subject of increased research on its possible therapeutic benefit. Therefore, the aim of this study looked at how different doses of Piper guineense aqueous leaf extract affected DPP gene expression and catalase activity in Drosophila melanogaster. mRNA of DPP and catalyst activity determined using polymerase chain reaction and colorimetric method respectively. The adult flies were given 500 mg, 250 mg, and 125 mg of the extract, respectively, after being split into control and treatment groups (A, B, and C). GraphPad Prism (version 8.02, California, USA) was used to analyse the collected data. As compared to the control, the catalase activity assays showed a substantial (p<0.05) decrease in catalase activity in all treatment groups. The catalase activity was highest in the control group (352.23±64.22 µmol/min) and lowest in Treatment A (1000 mg/kg) (197.44±50.68 µmol/min). Although the decrease in catalase activity between Treatments B and C was not statistically significant, Treatment B (500 mg/kg) showed moderately reduced activity (326.17±35.10 µmol/min) with values closest to the control, and Treatment C (250 mg/kg) showed the lowest catalase values (220.42±33.45 µmol/min). DPP gene expression was significantly lower (p<0.025) in treatment groups B and C than in the control. The expression levels in the 500 mg treatment group were identical to those in the control group. In conclusion, greater concentrations of Piper guineense aqueous leaf extract preserve DPP gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster while modulating oxidative stress pathways by decreasing catalase activity.
