The Effects of Ocimum tenuiflorum on Sleep Deprivation and Anxiety-related Behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Tulsi tea, which contains the active ingredient Ocimum tenuiflorum, has been used as a medicinal herb for 3,000 years in India. Previous research has demonstrated that Tulsi supplementation improves perceived stress states and enhances memory in mice. This research attempted to investigate the effect of Tulsi tea on sleep deprivation in the model organism, Drosophila melanogaster. It was hypothesized that consumption of Tulsi tea by D. melanogaster would result in reduced anxiety in flies subjected to a 20:4hr light:dark cycle. To test this hypothesis, an experimental group was cultured with 71 microliters of Tulsi tea, while two control groups were cultured with RO water. The Tulsi group and one control group were exposed to sleep deprivation as a stressor, while the other control group was cultured under a normal 12:12hr light:dark cycle. After a week of exposure, RING, wall following, and memory assays were administered to assess locomotion, anxious behavior, and olfactory-based learning and memory, respectively. Results demonstrated no significant difference in either anxious behavior or memory in D. melanogaster between any of the groups. There was a statistically significant difference in locomotion between the control group and both the sleep-deprived group and the Tulsi group. This suggests that the sleep-deprivation stressor had an impact on locomotion that Tulsi was unable to protect against. Overall, the findings show Tulsi tea has no significant protective effects against sleep deprivation in D. melanogaster.