INVESTIGATING THE CHANGE OF ACTION POTENTIAL WAVEFORMS BY PHARMACOLOGICAL INFUSION INTO L. terrestris

With the advent of uncountable number of new technologies, in fact, more people has experiencing cases of nerve cord injuries. However, not an optimal animal model for nerve cord injuries has been documented using invertebrates. The study was designed to investigate the use of L. terrestris as a model for the treatment of spinal cord injuries and their follow-up monitoring. Using a telemetric system to record data, the pharmacological effects on action potential were assessed, while comparing with a negative control water on the waveforms. The impulse reactions of the earthworm were examined to varying voltages of electrical stimuli.

By comparing the Fast Fourier Transform, interpolation-foldagram and stabilization time from each waveform, it was suggested that the four drugs, Ibuprofen, Phenol, Benzocaine and Acetaminophen in this study had a characteristic trend in change of each parameters. According to the patterns derived from the waveforms, both the type and the amount of the substances had an effect on L. terrestris’ action potentials, though not statistically significant. The result showed that the parameters we measured could be proportional to the doses of drugs within a certain range of electric stimulation. This study might contribute to more in-depth understanding of action potential propagation and nerve cord injury, if it could be applied properly.