The worldwide rate of major depressive disorder (MDD) has been on the rise since 2005. As more people get diagnosed with MDD, the more important it is to find certain natural ways to lessen depressive symptoms. Eating healthy foods such as vegetables has been shown to have a positive impact on depressive symptoms. In this project, Vitamin B2, riboflavin, will be tested to see if it can lessen the depressive symptoms in C. elegans , small nematodes that can be used to test psychiatric illnesses. The C. elegans will have induced depression using dexamethasone, a steroid that reduces inflammation and if given at the right dosage can induce depression. There will be 10 C. elegans per experimental group: only dexamethasone, only riboflavin, control, and dexamethasone and riboflavin. The C. elegans will be exposed to a dexamethasone concentration of 0.012 ug/mL and a riboflavin concentration of 1 mg/mL. The C. elegans will be exposed to the solutions for two days and then quantitative data will be collected using the forced swim test. The forced swim test is a methodology of testing the depressive symptoms of an organism. The organism is placed in water and the number of thrashes, an organism moves from their starting position to their side and back to the original position, is counted. The higher the number of thrashes, the higher the organism is resisting drowning. Thus showing that the organism’s depressive symptoms are improving. This project has shown that Riboflavin does have a positive effect on depressive symptoms of all age groups.

Keywords: Depression, Vitamin B2, Forced Swim Test