ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DIETARY FLAVONOIDS INTAKE AND HISTATIN 5 EXPRESSION AMONG HEALTHY ADULTS

Abstract

The high intake of fruits and vegetables contribute to sufficient physiological levels of flavonoids as flavonoids have numerous roles in improving general health. Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia reported that Malaysians did not meet the dietary guidelines for fruits and vegetables intake daily. Hence, this study was conducted to better understand the relation between flavonoids intake and the expression of histatin 5 in healthy adults. A total of 36 subjects were given Flavonoid Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and socio demographic questionnaire for assessment of their total flavonoid intake. The mean flavonoids intake amongst the subjects tested was 1721.88 mg/day. Saliva samples were collected and histatin 5 was extracted using zinc chloride in an alkaline condition (pH 9). The extracted protein was then subjected to reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). When tested with RP-HPLC, all 35 successfully tested subjects showed the expression of histatin 5 in various concentrations. Subsequently, the extracts were analysed using SDS PAGE, using histatin 5 standards and a low protein marker. Amongst the 35 subjects that were successfully tested, 15 subjects showed the presence of bands which indicated the presence of histatin 5 and 20 subjects showed no presence of band, which indicated no histatin 5 indicated when tested using SDS PAGE. Numerical data were analysed using Pearson’s correlation and Student’s T-test. No significant correlation was established between total flavonoid intake and the expression of histatin 5 (p=0.544). However, a gradual modest increase of the salivary protein was seen with the increase of flavonoid intake among the subjects. The intake of fruits and vegetables remain an important source of flavonoids among Malaysian adults.