Vol. 6, Issue 2, Part B (2024)

Each year, around 15 million infants are born premature, often resulting in birth defects that affect social interaction and motor skills. The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, serves as a model organism as its behaviors mirror premature birth defects, including anxiety, agoraphobia, and impaired movement. Maternal flies subjected to traumatic injury through a High Impact Trauma (HIT) device produce progeny with decreased social interaction and locomotion. Maternal trauma serves as a model for premature birth defects among fly progeny. Social interaction is assessed through a social space assay, which defines a fly’s nearest neighbor as its social space. Shorter distances between flies indicate greater social interaction, as they tend to cluster more closely together. Locomotion is measured using a climbing assay, where the progeny flies are tested on their ability to perform negative geotaxis successfully. Gelsemium sempervirens (GS) extract administration improves social interaction levels among fly progeny mimicking preterm birth defects, and increased locomotion levels in the mice model for chronic stress. Koumine is a major chemical compound of Gelsemium sempervirens and the study investigates the chemical as the active ingredient driving the increase in social interaction and locomotion. My hypothesis that administering koumine to maternal flies with traumatic injury improves social interaction and locomotion levels in progeny is supported by the significant differences observed. Fly progeny exhibited increased social interaction and locomotion when koumine was administered at the maternal level. The research provides a pathway for novel drug discovery, employing koumine as a treatment for premature birth defects in neonates.