Effect of a Combined Antidepressant Drug Flupentixol-Melitracen on Glucose Level and Expression of Insulin-Like Peptide Genes DILP5 and DILP6 in Drosophila melanogaster.

The number of depression sufferers is increasing at an alarming rate around the world. As a result, the usage of antidepressant drugs is growing day by day. However, the effect of this medication on glucose homeostasis is not clear. We investigated the impact of a combined antidepressant drug flupentixol-melitracen on glucose levels and the expression of associated genes in Drosophila melanogaster. The flies were reared in control and treatment vials having standard and drug-treated food. The glucose oxidase method showed significantly reduced glucose levels in the treated Drosophila. The Ct values obtained from qPCR for the relative quantification of Drosophila insulin-like peptide (DILP) genes, DILP5 and DILP6, were analyzed using the 2-ΔΔCT method. The DILP5 gene was expressed slightly higher in the antidepressant-treated group, though the expressions of the DILP genes appeared statistically insignificant. The current study suggests that anxiolytics and antidepressant drugs might be associated with the insulin signaling pathway, which is crucial for growth, glucose regulation, and other fundamental metabolic processes. Further study is required to determine the expression pattern of all DILP and other genes that might affect glucose homeostasis.