Avaliação dos efeitos do consumo de uma dieta rica em sacarose em Drosophila melanogaster: ênfase em alterações metabólicas e transcricionais

Abstract

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) has increased in the last decades, with 90% of cases been of type-2 diabetes (T2D), which is characterized by insulin resistance. In addition to hyperglycemia, T2D is strongly associated with obesity and several disorders such as cardiovascular diseases, neuropathies and neurodegenerative diseases, and kidney diseases. The pathogenesis of T2D involves an interaction of intrinsic factors and extrinsic factors, such as diet and physical activity. The high sugar diet (HSD) in experimental models has been commonly used to mimic the phenotype of the human pathology. To analyze the spectrum of effects generated by the consumption of an HSD, we used the Drosophila melanogaster fly, a well-established organism for studies of metabolic disorders. The fruit flies were kept from the egg, throughout their developmental stages and their adult lifespan on an HSD or a control diet. The consumption of HSD elevated the levels of blood glucose and triglycerides in adults as young as seven days old. The transcriptome analysis of total body revealed that the diet caused an increase in ribosomal biogenesis and decreased expression of genes related to energy metabolism and development, namely the muscle. Taken together, our results are in agreement with the literature, showing that the diet induced T2D phenotypes, and bring new findings on molecular genes and pathways affected by diet in Drosophila, which may serve as a basis for investigating the relationship between HSD and the DM