Multimodal Assessment of Ficus exasperata in Diabetic Drosophila

Background and Objective: The increasing occurrence of diabetes mellitus has spurred extensive research into natural products as potential alternative treatments. This research investigated the in vitro, in vivo, and in silico studies of the therapeutic potential of Ficus exasperata on diabetes. Aqueous and ethyl acetate extract fractions of Ficus exasperata were evaluated for antioxidant properties using standard protocols. Materials and Methods: Each of the fractions was administered at different concentrations to seven groups of Drosophila melanogaster . The in vivo inhibitory effects of the fractions were assayed for the expression of insulin-like peptide-2 (ILP-2), insulin-like receptor (InR), and Ecdysone inducible gene L2 (Imp-L2). The glucose concentration, non-protein thiol, total thiol, H₂O₂ , and nitrite activities were also evaluated. In silico studies assessed the inhibitory potentials of selected compounds on α-amylase as the target protein. All antioxidant studies were performed in triplicates, and data (Mean±SD) were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA with Duncan’s multiple range test (GraphPad Prism), considering p<0.05 as statistically significant. Results: The results revealed higher significant p<0.05 antioxidant contents in ethyl acetate fractions. Increased activities were also observed in rats treated with ethyl acetate fractions in comparison to acarbose administration. In silico analysis revealed naringenin and quercetin with docking scores of -7.118 and -5.898 kcal/mol, with binding energies of -41.806 and -31.715 kcal/mol, respectively, which competed with that of acarbose with the docking score and binding energy of -8.223 and -41.270 kcal/mol, respectively. Conclusion: However, the ADMET study also presented naringenin and quercetin with better physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties. Gene expression profiling revealed ethyl acetate fractions with better upregulations in treated groups VI and VII in comparison to groups I and II. It could be recommended that ethyl acetate extract fractions of Ficus exasperata exhibited better potential efficacy in the treatment of diabetes and utility in enhancing the effectiveness of diabetic medications.