Seizure Susceptibility in Drosophila melanogaster is Reduced with CBD and Z. jujube treatment

Seizures have a bidirectional relationship to sleep deprivation; sleep loss increases seizure susceptibility and duration, while seizures disrupt sleep (Mituzaite et al., 2021; Konduru et al., 2021). This study tested whether two treatments, cannabidiol (CBD) and <i>Zizyphus jujube</i> extract, reduced seizure activity in <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> . We hypothesized the treatments would decrease seizure duration and increase seizure latency in sleep-deprived bang-sensitive ( <i>sesB ^9Ed-4</i> ) and temperature-sensitive ( <i>sei ^P</i> ) mutants, respectively. Sleep-deprived <i>sesB ^9Ed-4</i> flies treated with <i>Z. jujube</i> showed reduced seizure duration and both treatments increased seizure latency in sleep-deprived <i>sei ^P</i> flies. This demonstrates CBD and <i>Z. jujube</i> have anti-convulsant activity in the <i>Drosophila</i> model.