Acute Toxicity Assay and Anti-diabetic Activities of Shemmeco Extract in Drosophila melanogaster

In this study the acute toxicity assay and anti- diabetic properties of Shemmeco extract were examined. The LC50 in this study was conducted using the concentrations: 5 mg, 10 mg, 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, 250 mg, 500 mg, 1000 mg, 2500 mg and 5000 mg of extract, each per 10g fly diet. For ten days, Drosophila melanogaster was fed a high diet of sucrose (2.5 g/10 g diet) to elicit insulin resistance type 2 diabetes. The diabetic flies were treated with 5mg, 10mg, 25mg, 50mg and 250 mg per 10 g diet each of Shemmeco extract being safe concentrations from result of acute toxicity and 16mg of metformin/10g diet as standard drug. Glucose content significantly elevated (p<0.05) in diabetes untreated compared to control group. Metformin significantly declined (p<0.05) the glucose content of fruit flies treated with 5 mg (S1) of Shemmeco extract compared to diabetic untreated and metformin treated. The slight decline of glucose content of fruit flies treated with 5mg (S1) of Shemmeco extract therefore indicates that the extract is promising in the treatment of diabetes type 2 if developed further.