Ackee (Blighia sapida K.D. Koenig) Leaves and Arils Methanolic Extracts Ameliorate CdCl(2)-Induced Oxidative Stress Biomarkers in Drosophila melanogaster

Different ethnomedical benefits have been documented on different parts of Ackee (Blighia sapida); however, their roles in ameliorating oxidative damages are not well established. CdCl(2) inhibitory effects on some oxidative-stress biomarkers and ameliorative potentials of Ackee leaves (AL) and arils (AS) methanolic extracts were studied using Drosophila melanogaster as a model. One to 3-day-old D. melanogaster flies were orally exposed to different concentrations of CdCl(2) in their diet for 7 days. The fly's survival profile and negative geotaxis assays were subsequently analysed. Methanolic extracts of AL and AS treatments showed negative geotaxis behaviour, and extracts were able to ameliorate the effect of Cd(2+) on catalase and GST activities and increase total thiol and GSH levels, while it reduced the H(2)O(2) generation (p ≤ 0.05) when compared to the control. Furthermore, Cd(2+) exhibited noncompetitive and uncompetitive enzyme inhibition on catalase and GST activities, respectively, which may have resulted in the formation of Enzyme-substrate-Cd(2+) transition complexes, thus inhibiting the conversion of substrate to product. This study, thus, suggests that the Cd(2+) mechanism of toxicity was associated with oxidative damage, as evidenced by the alteration in the oxidative stress-antioxidant imbalance, and that the AL and AS extracts possess essential phytochemicals that could alleviate possibly deleterious oxidative damage effects of environmental pollutants such as CdCl(2). Thus, Ackee plant parts possess essential phytonutrients which could serve as valuable resources in heavy metal toxicity management.