Kayanna Sayre

Lab Report- The Effects of Ginseng on Lumbriculus variegatus

Abstract

I have recently performed three tests on Lumbriculus variegatus, also

known as California blackworms. The purpose of these experiments was to
determine the effect of American ginseng on the worms. Ginseng has a
debated effect on the body. Some studies indicate that is causes
hypertension while others argue that is decreases blood pressure. The worms
were exposed to different concentrations of ginseng, as well as spring water
for the control group. I conducted pulsation rate, locomotion, and
chemotactic tests. For the pulsation rate experiment the worms were
subjected to 12µg% ginseng, 24µg% ginseng, or spring water. I discovered
that ginseng increases the pulsation rate when 12µg% ginseng was
administered. However, when the worms were subjected to 24µg% ginseng
there was a decrease in pulsations. Furthermore, regardless of the
concentration used, ginseng did not affect the locomotion of Lumbriculus
variegatus. Lastly, American ginseng had a positive chemotactic response on
the worms.

Introduction/Background

The intent of my experiment was to determine the effect of ginseng on

California blackworms. Lumbriculus variegatus is a type of worm that is
commonly used to perform a number of toxicity tests.1 Ginseng is an herb
that the exact effect on humans is unknown. Determining the effect of
ginseng on these worms may be able to be converted into useful information
about how ginseng affects human. Ginseng has been investigated because it
may have the potential to reduce the risk of getting cancer.2 If so, then
ginseng would be a very useful chemical and all the influences that it has on
humans needs to be analyzed. The purpose of this experiment was to reveal
some of the effects that ginseng had on the pulsation rate, locomotion, and
chemotaxis of Lumbriculus variegatus.

Hypothesis

If ginseng is added to the spring water that the Lumbriculus variegatus

is in then it will have a decrease in pulsation rate, increase locomotion, and
will produce a negative chemotactic response on Lumbriculus variegatus.

Methodology
 Kayanna Sayre

Obviously, all of my experiments require ginseng solutions. For the first

experiment, I had to use .024 mg of ginseng and dilute it to 100 mL of water.
This made my 24µg% solution. This concentration allowed me to make all
the other concentration that I used throughout the rest of my tests.

After making my solutions (ginseng 12µg%, ginseng 24 µg%, and

spring water) for the pulsation rate experiment, I placed 1 mL of each
solution into twelve separate wells. For this experiment, 36 worms were
tested. One worm was placed in each well of solution. Each group contained
twelve worms. Six of the worms were exposed for ten minutes and the
remaining six were exposed for twenty minutes. After the worm had been in
the solution for the correct amount of time, it was put under a microscope
and had the pulsation rate counted. I counted and recorded the pulses for
ten seconds and multiplied by six to get beats per minute. Once each worm
has been recorded, I calculated the mean, standard deviation, and Student’s
t-test for both treatment groups and the control group. Also, the analysis of
variance was performed.

For the locomotion experiment, I had to assemble a race track. To

make the racetrack, I placed a piece of wet filter paper in the bottom of a
Petri dish. Then, I made a mark every centimeter around the outside of the
dish. Lastly, a cardboard ring had to be constructed and placed in the middle
of the dish. This ring was secured by rubber bands. For this experiment, I
used 6µg% and 12µg% solutions of ginseng. I used the 12µg% from the last
experiment. To make the 6 µg%, I placed 25mL of the 24µg% and added
75mL of spring water. Once again, each solution was placed into 12 separate
wells. This experiment also used 36 worms. One worm was added to each
well. After ten minutes of exposure, the worm was placed on the race and
probed accordingly. Six worms from each solution were probed every five
seconds, and six worms from each solution were probed every ten seconds.
The same methods that were used for analyzing the results of the previous
experiment were used for this experiment.

The drop test experiment was less complex than the other
experiments. This experiment tested 60 worms. I used the same
concentrations as the last experiment (6µg% ginseng, 12µg% ginseng, and
spring water). First, I put one worm on a Petri dish. I then had to make sure
that all the excess water was removed from around the worm. Then, I added
one drop of the solution to the tail of the worm and watched to see if the
worm attracted or repelled from the solution.
 Kayanna Sayre

Results

Figure 1

Figure 2
 Kayanna Sayre

Table 1

Conclusions/Future Implications

The hypothesis that ginseng would decrease pulsation rate was

not entirely confirmed. Ginseng did affect the heart rate of the California
blackworms. Like other studies show, we also found that ginseng did both
increase and decrease the pulsation rate of the worms. As figure 1 shows,
 Kayanna Sayre

one concentration increased pulsations where as the other concentration

decreased them. The time*treatment test did have a significant difference.
This means that the amount of time exposed to ginseng alters the effect of
ginseng. My hypothesis that ginseng would increase locomotion was not
confirmed. Figure 2 illustrates that ginseng did not affect the locomotion.
Lastly, table 1 displays the results of the chemotactic experiment, which was
a positive response. Although ginseng is prized for its antioxidant benefits, it
appears to have stimulatory effects on the vasculature of the worms. More
research is needed to determine if this is true in humans.
1
Sardo, Soares, Gerhardt. Behavior, growth, and reproduction of Lumbriculus Variegatus
(Oligochaetae) in different sediment types. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, 13:519-
526, 2007. Available from EBSCOhost [online database].
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=2&hid=115&sid=738bb84c-6cc9-4817-8081-
abb4a107d779%40sessionmgr103. Accessed 2008 June 26.
2
Hai Rim Shin, Joon Youn Kim, Taik Koo Yun, Gareth Morgan, Harri Vainio. Cancer causes
& control, Vol. 11, No. 6 (Jul., 2000), pp. 565-576. Available from EBSCOhost [online
database].
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3553787?&Search=yes&term=ginseng&list=hide&searchUri=/actio
n/doBasicSearch?Query%3Dginseng%26gw%3Djtx%26prq%3DLumbriculus%2Bvariegatus
%252C%2Bginseng%26hp%3D25&item=3&ttl=1111&returnArticleService=showArticle.
Accessed 2008 June 26.