Quantification of pharmaceutical related biological activity in effluents from wastewater treatment plants in UK and Japan

Zhang, Han; Ihara, Masaru; Hanamoto, Seiya; Nakada, Norihide; Juergens, Monika D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6526-589X; Johnson, Andrew C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1570-3764; Tanaka, Hiroaki. 2018 Quantification of pharmaceutical related biological activity in effluents from wastewater treatment plants in UK and Japan. Environmental Science & Technology, 52 (20). 11848-11856. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b03013

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Abstract/Summary

While pharmaceuticals are now routinely detected in aquatic environments, we know little of the biological activity their presence might provoke. It is estimated that nearly 40% of all marketed pharmaceuticals are G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) acting pharmaceuticals. Here, we applied an in-vitro assay, called the TGFα shedding assay, to measure the biological activities of GPCRs-acting pharmaceuticals present in effluents from municipal wastewater treatment plants in the United Kingdom (UK) and Japan from 2014 to 2016. The results indicated that compounds were present in the wastewater with antagonistic activities against angiotensin (AT1), dopamine (D2), adrenergic (β1), acetylcholine (M1), and histamine (H1) receptors in both countries. The most consistent and powerful antagonistic activity was against the H1, D2, and AT1 receptors at up to microgram-antagonist-equivalent quantity/L. Chemical analysis of the same UK samples was also conducted in parallel. Comparing the results of the bioassay with the chemical analysis indicated (1) the existence of other D2 or M1 receptor antagonists besides sulpiride (D2 antagonist) or pirenzepine (M1 antagonist) in wastewater and (2) that there might be a mixture effect between agonist and antagonistic activities against β1 receptor. GPCR-acting pharmaceuticals should be paid more attention in the environmental monitoring and toxicity testing in future studies.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b03013
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Pollution (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	0013-936X
Additional Keywords:	antagonist, G protein-coupled receptor, biological activity of pharmaceutical, TGFα shedding assay, wastewater
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment
Date made live:	26 Oct 2018 14:31 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/521362

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