Research Unit of Analysis and Process Applied to The Environment - APAE (UR17ES32) Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology of Mahdia, University of Monastir, 5000, Monastir, Tunisia.
Centro de Estudos Do Ambiente E Do Mar (CESAM), Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Mar;29(13):19132-19147. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-16977-7. Epub 2021 Oct 28.
Hospital wastewater (HWW) contains different hazardous substances resulting from a combination of medical and non-medical activities of hospitals, including pharmaceutical residues. These substances may represent a threat to the aquatic environment if they do not follow specific treatment processes. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effects of the untreated effluent collected from a general hospital in Mahdia City (Tunisia) on neonatal stages of the freshwater crustacean Daphnia magna. Test organisms were exposed to three proportions (3.12%, 6.25%, and 12.5% v/v) of HWW. After 48 h of exposure, a battery of biomarkers was measured, including the quantification of antioxidant enzymes [catalase (CAT) and total and selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (total GPx; Se-GPx)], phase II biotransformation isoenzymes glutathione-S-transferases (GSTs), cyclooxygenases (COX) involved in the regulation of the inflammatory process, and total cholinesterases (ChEs) activities. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) was measured to estimate oxidative damage. The here-obtained results showed significant decreases of CAT and GSTs activities and also on LPO content in daphnids, whereas Se-GPx activity was significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner. Impairment of cholinesterasic and COX activities were also observed, with a significant decrease of ChEs and an increase of COX enzymatic activities. Considering these findings, HWW was capable of inducing an imbalance of the antioxidant defense system, but without resulting in oxidative damage in test organisms, suggesting that peroxidases and alternative detoxifying pathways were able to prevent the oxidant potential of several drugs, which were found in the tested effluents. In general, this study demonstrated the toxicity of hospital effluents, measured in terms of the potential impairment of key pathways, namely neurotransmission, antioxidant defense, and inflammatory homeostasis of crustaceans.
医院废水（HWW）包含不同的有害物质，这些物质是医院的医疗和非医疗活动相结合产生的，包括药物残留。如果这些物质不经过特定的处理过程，它们可能会对水生环境构成威胁。因此，我们旨在研究来自突尼斯马赫迪耶市（Mahdia City）的一家综合医院未经处理的废水对淡水甲壳类动物大型溞（Daphnia magna）的新生阶段的影响。试验生物暴露于三种 HWW 比例（3.12%、6.25%和 12.5%v/v）中。暴露 48 小时后，测量了一组生物标志物，包括抗氧化酶[过氧化氢酶（CAT）和总谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（总 GPx；Se-GPx）]、Ⅱ相生物转化同工酶谷胱甘肽-S-转移酶（GSTs）、参与炎症过程调节的环氧化酶（COX）和总胆碱酯酶（ChEs）的活性。测量脂质过氧化（LPO）以估计氧化损伤。这里获得的结果表明，CAT 和 GSTs 活性以及溞类的 LPO 含量显著降低，而 Se-GPx 活性则呈剂量依赖性显著增加。还观察到胆碱酯酶和 COX 活性受损，ChEs 活性显著降低，COX 酶活性增加。考虑到这些发现，HWW 能够诱导抗氧化防御系统失衡，但不会导致试验生物发生氧化损伤，这表明过氧化物酶和替代解毒途径能够防止测试废水中发现的几种药物的氧化潜力。总的来说，这项研究表明了医院废水的毒性，以甲壳类动物的神经传递、抗氧化防御和炎症内稳态的关键途径受损的潜力来衡量。
