The Pursuit of Happiness: The Effect of Herbs on Serotonin-Deficient C. Elegans
AJAS · 2019 Biomedical and Health Sciences (inferred)
Overview
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is thought to be responsible for mood in humans and other multicellular organisms. Many people take prescription drugs that are thought to increase levels of serotonin to treat symptoms of depression, but these drugs can also have debilitating side effects or be ineffective for some patients. Herbal remedies such as lavender flower, lavender leaf (Lavandula stoechas), St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) and ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) are thought to be natural alternatives to these drugs, but may not have the same efficacy as prescription medication. A chemotaxis experiment was used to test the effects of each herbal remedy on tph-1 mutant C. elegans that are serotonin-deficient. Decoctions of each were made by boiling an herb with 40 mL of sterile tap water for every gram of herb used. A dose response experiment with 100%, 10% and 1% dilutions of the original decoction was conducted to test the effects of the herbal remedies on the worms. Fecundity, behavior and mortality were monitored for five days for control and experimental conditions. None of the worms died through this experiment, so the concentrations of the decoctions were not lethal. The lavender flower was not used in the dose response portion of the experiment because of its similarity to the lavender leaf. The lavender leaf decoction and St. John’s Wort decoction showed increases in tph-1 mutant C. elegans lethargy and changes in fecundity when compared to the control, suggesting a possible increase in serotonin levels. The worms laid fewer eggs when treated with herbs. The lower the concentration of herbal remedy, the faster changes were observed in worm behavior, suggesting the lower concentration may be more effective in the worms. The ashwagandha decoction results suggested a similar trend but were inconclusive because of contaminated cultures. Future work will repeat these experiments to verify the results, investigate serotonin levels, and determine the effects of these treatments on wild type C. elegans.
Competition history
- AJAS 2019
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Source: AAAS Annual Meeting (Confex) / American Junior Academy of Science