No Cover Image

Journal article 12 views

The inhibitory effect of nicotine on Lumbriculus variegatus stereotypical movements and locomotor activity

Nia Davies, Julanta Carriere, ANEESHA GOPAL, ANNIE RAJAN, Lisa Wallace Orcid Logo, Aidan Seeley Orcid Logo

Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, Volume: 247, Start page: 173953

Swansea University Authors: Nia Davies, Julanta Carriere, ANEESHA GOPAL, ANNIE RAJAN, Lisa Wallace Orcid Logo, Aidan Seeley Orcid Logo

Full text not available from this repository: check for access using links below.

Abstract

Nicotine has been shown to induce profound physiological and behavioural responses in invertebrate model organisms such as Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. Lumbriculus variegatus is an aquatic oligochaete worm which we have previously demonstrated has application within pharmacolo...

Full description

Published in: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior
ISSN: 0091-3057 1873-5177
Published: Elsevier BV 2025
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68627
Abstract: Nicotine has been shown to induce profound physiological and behavioural responses in invertebrate model organisms such as Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. Lumbriculus variegatus is an aquatic oligochaete worm which we have previously demonstrated has application within pharmacological research. Herein, we demonstrate the presence of endogenous acetylcholine and cholinesterase activity within L. variegatus and show the time-dependent effects on the sensitivity of L. variegatus to nicotine. We describe the effects of a broad range of concentrations of nicotine (1 μM – 1 mM) on L. variegatus response to tactile stimulation and locomotor activity following acute (10-min) and chronic (24-h) exposure. Here, we show that 10 min of exposure to ≥0.1 mM nicotine reversibly reduces the ability of tactile stimulation to elicit stereotypical movements of body reversal and helical swimming, and locomotor activity in L. variegatus. We also demonstrate that exposure to ≥0.1 mM nicotine for 24 h was toxic to L. variegatus. Chronic low-dose nicotine ≥25 μM similarly inhibits L. variegatus behaviours with 50 μM causing irreversible inhibition of movement. Thus, L. variegatus presents a model for studying the effects of nicotine and further demonstrates the application of the in vivo model L. variegatus for behavioural pharmacology research.
Keywords: Behavioural pharmacology; Nicotine; Invertebrate; Behavior; Lumbriculus variegatus
College: Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
Funders: This work was supported by funding from a Saint David's Medical Foundation Seed-corn Research grant 2021 - 2022.
Start Page: 173953