Abstract
Ackee (Blighia sapida) has been used in traditional medicine for treating oxidative stress-induced diseases; diabetes and cancer. Ameliorative roles of Ackee leaves and arils methanolic extracts were evaluated on mercuric chloride (HgCl2) induced-oxidative stress in D. melanogaster. 1-3 days old D. melanogaster were orally exposed to different concentrations of Ackee leaves (AL), and Ackee arils (AS) extracts as well as HgCl2 in a diet for 7 days. Subsequently, survival and negative geotaxis assays, quantification of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and oxidative biomarker enzymes were determined. 500 µM HgCl2 was selected based on the highest lethality, 0.2 mg/g for AL, and 0.4 mg/g for AS; they gave the highest antioxidant effects. Exposure to AL and AS plant extracts improved negative geotaxis behavior and extracts were able to ameliorate the effect of Hg2+ on catalase positively, acetylcholinesterase, glutathione-S transferase activities, increase total thiol and GSH levels and reverted increased nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide production (P<0.05) when compared to the control. Our results suggest that the Hg2+ mechanism of toxicity is associated with oxidative damage, as evidenced by the alteration in the oxidative stress-antioxidant imbalance, and that extracts possess essential phytochemicals that could alleviate possibly effects of environmental pollutants such as HgCl2.
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