The Effects of Lidocaine on Daphnia Heart Rate

Results

Figure 1 represents the average heart rates of five different daphnia varying in size
and age two different conditions. The control condition was the heart rate of the
daphnia when immersed in spring water. The experimental condition was the heart
rate of the daphnia when exposed to a lidocaine dilution. The matched pair t-test
provided a critical value of 0.0160 which is less than 0.05, meaning that the null
hypothesis can be rejected as this data supports the hypothesis. Figure 2
demonstrates the downward trend of heart rate in each daphnia individually when
exposed to the lidocaine after the spring water treatment.

300

250

200

150

Mean Heart Rate (beats/min)

100

50

Daphnia

Spring Water Lidocaine

Figure 1. Mean heart rates of daphnia data graphed between spring water which
was the control condition and lidocaine which was experimental condition. Raw data
obtained by viewing the daphnia under 40x magnification and counting the heart
rates from which mean was found. Matched pair t-test was then performed in order
to determine any significance. Degrees of freedom was 4.
 300

Mean Heart Rate (beats/min) 200

Daphnia A Daphnia B Daphnia C Daphnia D Daphnia E

100
Spring Water Lidocaine

Condition

Figure 2. Drop in mean heart rates shown when the daphnia were exposed to the
diluted lidocaine solution treatment in comparison to the spring water treatment.
Mean heart rates were found by averaging the raw data collected then a line graph
was produced in order to show the decrease in heart beats per minute.

Discussion

The purpose of this experiment was to observe the effect of Lidocaine in regards to
the Daphnia heart rate. Lidocaine is an antiarrhythmic agent which works by
blocking sodium channels which in turn decreases the amount of contractions by
the heart1. Therefore, we hypothesized the Daphnias heart rate would decrease
when exposed to the lidocaine.

More specifically, lidocaine works by preventing signal conduction in neurons 1. This

is done by blocking the sodium channels from which the signals originate 1. This can
prevent a signal from firing in the cell such as a muscle cell in the heart. Which in
turn makes the heart less contract and lowers the heart rate. According to the data,
Daphnia heart rate decreased in a significant manner in the presence of Lidocaine.
As seen in Figure 1, after each daphnia was exposed to the lidocaine, overall beats
per minute decreased when compared to the heart rate in plain spring water. This
trend is further exemplified in Figure 2 as well. The data is significant due to the
critical value of .0160 which is less than the 0.05 threshold. Thus our data supports
the hypothesis, a decrease in heart rate can be observed when the organism is
exposed to lidocaine.

Due to the fundamental nature of this lab, a variety of errors could have occurred.
The most prominent error would seem to result from the actual counting of the
heart rate. There was no accurate way to count the heart rate especially with an
untrained eye. Counting the heart was done visually and was extremely prone to
human error. Another error that occurred was the unintentional dilution of the
lidocaine solution with water as the experiment progressed. Every time the daphnia
was removed from the depression slide and placed in the lidocaine solution, water
would be transferred along with the daphnia.

In order to further explore the effects on daphnia heart rate, it would be interesting
to observe the effects of a cardiotonic drug. A solution of diluted cardiac stimulant
such as amrinone would be used in order to increase the contractions of the heart 2.
Therefore, we hypothesize the heart rate would increase among the daphnia
exposed to the drug.

References

1. Bean B, Cohen C, Tsien R. Lidocaine block of cardiac sodium channels. The

Journal of General Physiology. 1983;81(5):613-642.

2. LeJemtel, T. H. et al. "Amrinone: A New Non-Glycosidic, Non-Adrenergic

Cardiotonic Agent Effective In The Treatment Of Intractable Myocardial Failure
In Man". Circulation 59.6 (1979): 1098-1104