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Islandora
Dissertations, Theses, and Projects
Undergraduate Honors Theses
2017 Honors Theses (Fall)
Examining the effects of natural dietary supplements on fat metabolism in the fruit fly, Drosophila melangaster.
Examining the effects of natural dietary supplements on fat metabolism in the fruit fly, Drosophila melangaster.
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Details
Title
Examining the effects of natural dietary supplements on fat metabolism in the fruit fly, Drosophila melangaster.
Creator
Subject
Dietary supplements.
Description
The increase in sedentary lifestyles and calorie-dense diets have made obesity prevalent in our society leading to a rise in obesity-related health problems, including heart disease and diabetes. While some prescription drugs are effective in controlling weight, patients are often concerned about adverse side effects. This has led to celebrities and popular media endorsing the use of natural dietary supplements, such as plant extracts, to combat obesity. The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, can be used as a model to study obesity. This is because many genes and pathways involved in fat metabolism are shared between humans and flies, including the adipokinetic hormone (AKH) and mir-14 genes, which up-and down-regulate fat metabolism, respectively. This project’s goal wasto determine if four natural supplements –Garcina cambogia, raspberry ketones, cayenne, and vitamin B12 –effectively increase fat metabolism. These weretested on wild-type flies and flies with mutations in the Drosophila AKHand mir-14 genes. Sixteen types of fly food were made, each containing one of the supplements, with four different doses tested for each. Concentrations were based on recommended human doses. Wild-type flies were kept on supplemented and unsupplemented food for one week. Fat storeswerethen assayed using a colored colorimetric assay to measure triglyceride levels. It was found that cayenne at the highest dose significantly decreased triglyceride levels in male wild-type flies. Cayenne also caused a significant increase intriglyceride levels in the dAKH male mutants at the lowest dose, suggesting that cayenne’s effects may be mediated in part by the dAKH pathway., Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Louise Nicholson.
Publisher
Contributor
Groover, Anna M. (Author)
Date
2017-11-29
Type
Text
Format
Identifier
cali:767
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