The Antidiabetic Effects of Resveratrol Alone or in Combination with Piperine in Type 2 Diabetic Wild -Type Drosophila melanogaster as a Basis for a Novel Treatment

Overview

Ms. Pamela Agbu, Doctoral Candidate More than 30 million Americans have diabetes. The most prevalent is type 2 diabetes mellitus, which is characterized by insulin resistance. Resveratrol, an organic compound, has the potential to be antidiabetic due to its antioxidant effects. However, it is quickly removed from the body by glucuronidation, resulting in low bioavailability. Piperine, another potentially antidiabetic organic compound, is believed to improve the oral bioavailability of resveratrol by blocking glucuronidation. This study investigated the efficacy of resveratrol as an antidiabetic agent alone and in combination with piperine. Type 2 diabetes mellitus was induced in Drosophila melanogaster through a high sugar diet. After exposing the control and high sugar diet groups to resveratrol and/or piperine, mass, physical activity, developmental time, and circulating glucose concentration were tested. It was concluded that both resveratrol and piperine were antidiabetic, particularly when administered in combination. Based on ANOVAs, resveratrol and piperine together significantly increased physical activity (p=1.19×10-19) and decreased developmental time (p=0.0003) compared to the untreated diabetic flies. The combination treatment was also more effective compared to groups treated with only one compound. This suggests that a combination resveratrol-and-piperine treatment has the potential to be prescribed alone or in tandem with other treatments as a novel therapeutic treatment.