Ethanol, commonly known as drinking alcohol, is a psychoactive drug that gives the stimulative effect of alcoholic intoxication. Addiction to ethanol is difficult to overcome due to the withdrawal symptoms present after discontinuing exposure. Planaria, scientifically, Dugesia dorotocephala, is a species of flatworm, commonly used as a model organism for humans; planaria show withdrawal symptoms such as low dopamine levels and changes in movement from addictive drugs, making them a suitable organism to test the effectiveness of white mulberry on withdrawal. Given that previous studies show that white mulberries can revert the movements of planarians after addictive substances, it is hypothesized that white mulberries can help planarians recover from alcohol withdrawal. This study investigates how white mulberry extract may affect the behavior and locomotion of ethanol-withdrawn planarians. Planaria were put in a 1% ethanol solution for 60 minutes and given either post or pretreated with 0%, 3%, 6%, and 9% mulberry in beef for 15 minutes. A vehicle group that received no ethanol exposure or mulberry treatment was also observed. After the treatment, the number of gridlines crossed, head bops, and C-shapes were counted for 20 minutes, followed by a Conditional Preference Test (CPT) for 10 minutes. It was observed that the 6% and 9% white mulberry pre-treatments were able to completely reverse the ethanol’s impacts on light preference and motility slightly. The post-treatment on the other hand was shown to worsen ethanol’s impact, significantly decreasing motility from the control.
Abstract Ethanol, commonly known as drinking alcohol, is a psychoactive drug that gives the stimulative effect of alcoholic intoxication. Addiction to ethanol is difficult to overcome [...]
The Effects of White Mulberry on Alcohol-Induced Withdrawal in Planaria 
