ADVERSE EFFECT OF VALPROIC ACID ON MATING BEHAVIOUR AND FERTILITY IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Abstract

Drosophila melanogaster, the model organism that has been widely used to study various diseases and also the adverse effects. D. melanogaster can be extrapolated to human system which could facilitate the effect of drugs on reproduction. Valproic acid is a major antiepileptic drug with a broad spectrum of antiepileptic activity, the drugs given to treat epilepsy alongside therapeutical use, also has a lot of side effects which mainly effects reproduction. In view of this, the present study is aimed to address the effect of valproic acid on Drosophila life history traits. Interestingly, the observation reveals that flies exposed to the higher dose of VAL have experienced significant increase in courtship duration with decreased copulation duration, fecundity and fertility, while the longevity has not been affected on exposure to VAL at any experimental dose. Thus the result implies significant effect of valproic acid on reproduction.