Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.2478/aiht-2024-75-3818
Nanoplastics increase in vitro oestrogenic activity of neurotherapeutic drugs
Lucija Božičević
; Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Valerije Vrček
; University of Zagreb Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, Zagreb, Croatia
Nikolina Peranić
; Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Nikolina Kalčec
; Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Ivana Vinković Vrček
; Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia, 3 University of Rijeka Faculty of Medicine, Rijeka, Croatia
Abstract
Environmental pollution with plastic nanoparticles (PNPs) has rendered hazard assessment of unintentional human exposure to neurotherapeutic drugs through contaminated water and food ever more complicated. Due to their small size, PNPs can easily enter different cell types and cross different biological barriers, while their high surface-to-volume ratio enables higher adsorption of chemicals. This is how PNPs take the role of a Trojan horse as they enhance bioaccumulation of many different pollutants. One of the health concerns related to water pollution with neurotherapeutic drugs is endocrine disruption, already evidenced for the anticonvulsant drug carbamazepine (Cbz) and antidepressant fluoxetine (Flx). Our study aimed to evaluate endocrine disrupting effects of Cbz and Flx in mixtures with polystyrene nanoparticles (PSNPs) using the in vitro luciferase assay to measure oestrogen receptor activity in T47D-KBluc cells treated with Cbz-PSNPs or Flx-PSNPs mixtures and compare it with the activities observed in cells treated with individual mixture components (Cbz, Flx, or PSNPs). Dose ranges used in the study were 0.1–10 mg/L, 1–100 μmol/L, and 0.1–10 μmol/L for PSNPs, Cbz, and Flx, respectively. Our findings show that none of the individual components activate oestrogen receptors, while the mixtures induce oestrogen receptor activity starting with 0.1 mg/L for PSNPs, 10 μmol/L for Cbz, and 0.5 μmol/L for Flx. This is the first study to evidence that PSNPs increase oestrogen receptor activity induced by neurotherapeutic drugs at their environmentally relevant concentrations and calls for urgent inclusion of complex mixtures in health hazard assessments to inform regulatory response.
Keywords
polystyrene; carbamazepine; fluoxetine; oestrogen receptors; T47D-KBluc cell line
Hrčak ID:
315344
URI
Publication date:
19.3.2024.
Visits: 691 *