Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Over 1.5 billion individuals a year are infected with soil-transmitted helminths (STH) such as whipworm, hookworm, and Ascaris. These infections have detrimental effects on human growth, nutrition, and cognition leading to a cycle of poverty. Currently, The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes four drugs to treat STH for mass drug administration which consist of two mechanisms of action. These fall into two classes, nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists and benzimidazoles. Albendazole, the drug of choice, is a beta-tubulin inhibitor that induces the immobilization and death of STH (Malik and Dua, 2023). The widespread use of these drugs and the limited mechanism of action, prompt the emergence of drug resistance. Extensive preliminary research has demonstrated the effectiveness of using C. elegans as a model organism as Albendazole has been shown to decrease the health motility of L4 C. elegans (Weaver et al., 2016). Our research aims to expand these findings and investigate the effectiveness of Albendazole across various stages in the life cycle of C. elegans, specifically eggs. We treated C. elegans eggs with multiple concentrations of Albendazole and monitored the hatch rate over twenty-four hours along with the health motility for seven days. We hypothesized that increasing drug concentration would decrease the hatch rate and health motility scores of C. elegans. Our results demonstrated a general decrease in egg hatching and motility health within higher concentrations of Albendazole.
Faculty Mentor
Brian Ellis
Recommended Citation
Domingo Diaz, Jennifer and Duerson, Emma, "Investigating the Effects of Albendazole on the Hatch Rate and Motility of C. elegans Eggs" (2025). Student Scholar Symposium. 86.
https://digitalcollections.lipscomb.edu/student_scholars_symposium/2025/Full_schedule/86
Included in
Investigating the Effects of Albendazole on the Hatch Rate and Motility of C. elegans Eggs
Over 1.5 billion individuals a year are infected with soil-transmitted helminths (STH) such as whipworm, hookworm, and Ascaris. These infections have detrimental effects on human growth, nutrition, and cognition leading to a cycle of poverty. Currently, The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes four drugs to treat STH for mass drug administration which consist of two mechanisms of action. These fall into two classes, nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists and benzimidazoles. Albendazole, the drug of choice, is a beta-tubulin inhibitor that induces the immobilization and death of STH (Malik and Dua, 2023). The widespread use of these drugs and the limited mechanism of action, prompt the emergence of drug resistance. Extensive preliminary research has demonstrated the effectiveness of using C. elegans as a model organism as Albendazole has been shown to decrease the health motility of L4 C. elegans (Weaver et al., 2016). Our research aims to expand these findings and investigate the effectiveness of Albendazole across various stages in the life cycle of C. elegans, specifically eggs. We treated C. elegans eggs with multiple concentrations of Albendazole and monitored the hatch rate over twenty-four hours along with the health motility for seven days. We hypothesized that increasing drug concentration would decrease the hatch rate and health motility scores of C. elegans. Our results demonstrated a general decrease in egg hatching and motility health within higher concentrations of Albendazole.