Effects of Nicotine and Caffeine on Isopod Behavior

By Morgan Howell, Parker Lehman, Samuel Robinson, David Rowlett, and Janessa Wangadi,

Figure 1. Isopod consuming coffee and smoking tobacco illustrated through Snapchat Inc. by Morgan Howell.

Our research project aims to study the addictive effects of drugs in pillbug environments. We will do this by presenting group 1 of isopods with a choice between regular soil soaked with deionized water and soil soaked with nicotine and group 2 of isopods with a choice between regular soil soaked with deionized water and soil soaked with caffeine. While doing this test we will also have 6 different groups of pillbugs, with 3 groups in different concentrations of nicotine and 3 groups in different concentrations of caffeine to test what the optimal solution concentrations are over two days. After this initial test we will acclimate group 1 to nicotine using the appropriate solution, and acclimate group 2 to caffeine using the respective solutions determined through the test. After 5 days of living in the drug environments we will subject the two groups to the same choice test.

Hypothesis:
If presented with the choice between regular soil and soil soaked in nicotine or caffeine, more isopods will choose the soil soaked in the chemical after they were acclimated because the isopods will develop an addiction to the substances.

Reasoning:
Our group decided to do this project because it combines two interesting labs: the daphnia lab and the isopod lab. This also relates to the world around us because humans use these substances constantly, and do not think about how their actions can expose animals in the environment around them to these harmful substances. This project is also helpful because it provides information on how animals react to drugs which is helpful to understanding how animals differ from humans when comparing these reactions to the reactions we experience.

Challenges:
One challenge we have experienced is determining what amount of each drug is enough to cause an effect in isopods but will not drastically harm or kill them. Another challenge we have experienced is trying to find materials that allow us to create quality solutions of the drugs used. Nicotine is especially hard to find independent in solution, so we decided to use an E-Juice with Nicotine and some vegetable glycerin.

Background:
Ceballos D and et al. in the Daphnia Heart Rate Lab paper investigates the uses of nicotine, caffeine and alcohol on Daphnia, which provides important information on the effects of the drugs on crustaceans, as well as provides a baseline for the amounts that would be safe to use on isopods (Ceballos D and et al. 2010). Then in the “Drug Action in Galvanotropic Responses” journal by Fries shows research involving exposing isopods to nicotine and caffeine showing how they react. This helps show that isopods can be affected by nicotine. It also showed that water isopods can not absorb caffeine due to their exoskeleton, which provides us with an explanation if in our experiments show the isopods do not react to caffeine. However, we do expect the isopods to react to caffeine because we will be using terrestrial isopods and putting the caffeine on their food so it will hopefully be ingested (Fries E 1928). Also, Novotny T and et al. in the paper, “The environmental and health impacts of tobacco agriculture, cigarette manufacture and consumption,” has researched the impact of tobacco farming on the environment, and helps provide additional information on the research being done by many as to the possible effects of the tobacco industry on the environment. Our research will provide additional perspective to the issue of how the tobacco industry affects the environment in multiple ways.

Work Cited:
Ceballos D, Corotto F, Lee A, Vinson L. 2010. Making the Most of the Daphnia Heart Rate Lab: Optimizing the Use of Ethanol, Nicotine & Caffeine. The American Biology Teacher. [accessed 2018 Feb 8]; 72: 176-179. http://web.as.uky.edu/biology/faculty/cooper/NSTA-2012-workshops/HeartRate%20NSTA%20Workshop/Daphnia_Concentration_Paper.pdf.

Fries E. May 1928. Drug Action in Galvanotropic Responses. Laboratory of General Physiology. [accessed 2018 Feb 8]; 11(5): 507-513. http://jgp.rupress.org/content/11/5/507/tab-pdf.

Novotny TE, Bialous SA, Burt L, Curtis C, Costa VLD, Iqtidar SU, Liu Y, Pujari S, Despaignet ET. The environmental and health impacts of tobacco agriculture, cigarette manufacture and consumption. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2015 [accessed 2018 Feb 8]; 93(12): 877–880.  http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/93/12/15-152744.pdf.