Drug Metabolism and Toxicology Research Laboratories, Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Department of Medical Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria.
Environ Toxicol. 2023 Dec;38(12):3006-3017. doi: 10.1002/tox.23934. Epub 2023 Aug 16.
Metoprolol, a drug for hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, has become a contaminant of emerging concern because of its frequent detection in various environmental matrices globally. The dwindling in the biodiversity of useful insects owing to increasing presence of environmental chemicals is currently a great interest to the scientific community. In the current research, the toxicological impact of ecologically relevant concentrations of metoprolol at 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, and 0.5 μg/L on Nauphoeta cinerea nymphs following exposure for 42 consecutive days was evaluated. The insects' behavior was analyzed with automated video-tracking software (ANY-maze, Stoelting Co, USA) while biochemical assays were done using the midgut, head and fat body. Metoprolol-exposed nymphs exhibited significant diminutions in the path efficiency, mobility time, distance traveled, body rotation, maximum speed and turn angle cum more episodes, and time of freezing. In addition, the heat maps and track plots confirmed the metoprolol-mediated wane in the exploratory and locomotor fitness of the insects. Compared with control, metoprolol exposure decreased acetylcholinesterase activity in insects head. Antioxidant enzymes activities and glutathione level were markedly decreased whereas indices of inflammation and oxidative injury to proteins and lipids were significantly increased in head, midgut and fat body of metoprolol-exposed insects. Taken together, metoprolol exposure induces neurobehavioral insufficiency and oxido-inflammatory injury in N. cinerea nymphs. These findings suggest the potential health effects of environmental contamination with metoprolol on ecologically and economically important nontarget insects.
美托洛尔是一种用于治疗高血压和心血管疾病的药物，由于其在全球各种环境基质中频繁被检出，已成为一种新出现的关注污染物。由于环境化学物质的存在，有益昆虫的生物多样性不断减少，这是当前科学界关注的一个热点问题。在当前的研究中，评估了生态相关浓度的美托洛尔（0、0.05、0.1、0.25 和 0.5μg/L）对连续暴露 42 天后的赤拟谷盗若虫的毒理学影响。使用自动视频跟踪软件（ANY-maze，Stoelting Co，美国）分析昆虫的行为，同时使用中肠、头部和脂肪体进行生化分析。暴露于美托洛尔的若虫表现出路径效率、移动时间、移动距离、身体旋转、最大速度和转弯角度的显著降低，并且出现更多的冻结事件和时间。此外，热图和轨迹图证实了美托洛尔介导的昆虫探索和运动能力下降。与对照组相比，暴露于美托洛尔会降低昆虫头部的乙酰胆碱酯酶活性。抗氧化酶活性和谷胱甘肽水平显著降低，而头部、中肠和脂肪体中炎症和氧化损伤蛋白质和脂质的指标显著增加。综上所述，美托洛尔暴露会导致赤拟谷盗若虫的神经行为障碍和氧化炎症损伤。这些发现表明，环境中美托洛尔污染对生态和经济上重要的非靶标昆虫可能存在潜在的健康影响。
