Determination of life span and antioxidant effect of snowdrop (Galanthus elwesii Hook.) plant extracts in drosophila melanogaster

Alternative treatment or healing methods with plants have a very important place in traditional medicine. However, the side effects of treatments with chemical drugs are becoming more common day by day. For this reason, content analysis of plants and determination of their effectiveness under in vivo conditions have become very important. Snowdrop (Galanthus elwesii Hook.), one of these plants; In addition to its commercial effects, it is a powerful plant species that has many therapeutic uses thanks to the important alkaloids contained in its above-ground and underground parts. In this study, first of all; A total of six different plant extracts were prepared from the underground and aboveground parts of the G. elwesii plant using different solvents (water, methanol and ethanol). The possible toxic, antitoxic and biochemical effects of these extracts we obtained were investigated in in vivo conditions on 72±4 hour old larvae of the Drosophila melanogaster (Fruit Fly) model organism Oregon R wild strain. Water, ethanol, methanol application groups at different concentrations (1 µg/mL; 0,5 µg/mL; 0,25 µg/mL and 0,125 µl/mL) and control groups were created and the larvae were acutely fed with these nutrients. Male individuals that were able to mature from larvae were transferred to fresh medium for lifespan and data were recorded until the last individual remained. Additionally, Total Antioxidant Status (TAS), Total Oxidant Status (TOS) and Oxidative Stress Index (OSI) parameters were examined to determine the biochemical activities of the snowdrop plant in D. melanogaster individuals. According to the data obtained from the control group; It was observed that there were statistically significant changes in the number of larvae turning into adults and the lifespan of the adult individuals due to the increase in concentration (p<0,05). As a result of the lifespan studies of the snowdrop plant, it was observed that the longest average lifespan was 60±0,59 days at a concentration of 0,25 µg/mL in the subsoil water extract. When the parameters evaluated in oxidative stress studies are examined; As in lifespan studies, it was determined that especially the results of subsoil water extract were significant compared to the negative control group (p<0,05), and the OSI value was closest to the ascorbic acid in the positive control group, with 0,061±0,03. The results obtained from this thesis, which is the first and only study in which the effectiveness of different solvents and parts of the snowdrop plant were investigated on the D. melanogaster model organism, revealed once again how important this plant, especially the onion parts, is from a medical point of view.