Abstract
Pharmacology graduates require an understanding of both in vitro and in vivo drug responses but there has been a decline in animal use in pharmacology education over the last 30 years. To address this, we present the novel invertebrate model, Lumbriculus variegatus, for in vivo testing of drugs in a teaching environment. We have developed two novel behavioral assays: the stereotypical movement assay, which measures the effect of drugs on the ability of L. variegatus to perform stereotypical movements following tactile stimulation, and the free locomotion assay, which measures drug effects on unstimulated movement. We report the effects of compounds with diverse pharmacodynamic properties on L. variegatus using these assays. The ryanodine receptor antagonist, dantrolene, altered the unstimulated movement of L. variegatus at 5 μM, whereas stimulated movement was inhibited at ≥25 μM. Lidocaine, a voltage‐gated sodium channel blocker, and quinine, a nonselective sodium and potassium channel blocker, reduced both stimulated and unstimulated L. variegatus movement at ≥0.5 mM. Inhibitory effects of quinine persisted for up to 24 h after drug removal, whereas lidocaine effects were reduced 10 min after drug removal. Herein, we provide proof‐of‐concept utilization of L. variegatus as an organism for use in in vivo pharmacology education but without regulatory constraints or the need for specialized equipment and training.
Highlights
Pharmacology is the study of how medicines and other drugs work and are processed by the body.[1]
L. variegatus has been extensively characterized as indicator organisms for toxic compounds in aquatic systems and proposed as a standard organism for sediment bioaccumulation tests.14-19,27 we demonstrated that L. variegatus has application as an effective model for the teaching of the effects of pharmacological agents on an intact system
We recognize that experiments conducted in invertebrates do not replicate the complexity of higher animals and experiments conducted in invertebrates do not wholly replace studies in vertebrate species, such as mice and rats
Summary
Pharmacology is the study of how medicines and other drugs work and are processed by the body.[1]. The ability to perform the stereotypical behaviors of body reversal and helical swimming following tactile stimulation and unstimulated free locomotion, in the presence of dantrolene, a ryanodine receptor antagonist,[24] lidocaine, a voltage-gated sodium channel blocker,[25] and quinine, a nonselective sodium and potassium channel blocker.[26] Our aim was to develop a novel whole animal model for use within a teaching environment for the demonstration of fundamental pharmacologic principles and techniques This was tested in a first-year medical pharmacology laboratory practical, and anecdotal feedback collected, alongside experimental data. This organism has broader potential in pharmacologic education, analogous to Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster
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