The influence of different water calcium concentrations on bioavailability and biological responses of fish to the neuropharmaceutical carbamazepine

• Grant number: 20/07267-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: June 01, 2021
• End date: September 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Physiology of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Renata Guimarães Moreira Whitton
• Grantee: João Paulo Silva Pinheiro
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Tiete River, as many other rivers in South America contains a wide range of chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, like carbamazepine (CBZ), which may affect the health of aquatic life. CBZ is of considerable interest in ecotoxicological studies, because is highly resistant to biodegradation and photodegradation, and can be found in concentrations that vary between 12 and 358 ng L-1 in this river. CBZ can also interfere in several morphophysiological processes, leading to the presence of histopathologies and changes in hormonal levels of aquatic organisms. Associated with the presence of chemical products, water physicochemical characteristics can influence the toxicity of these chemicals to the organisms, however, these relations have been poorly investigated. Divalent cations such as calcium can have a major influence on biological systems, including alterations in cell membrane permeability, as well as directly affecting the state/form of some chemicals in the water, which in turn affects the bioavailability and the toxicity of selected pollutants. The calcium composition of freshwater can show considerable temporal variations due to natural and/or anthropic factors, which can be observed in the Tiete River (1.85 to 38.6 mg L-1 Ca2+). Despite this, it is not understood if different calcium concentrations in water affect the bioavailability of a neuropharmaceutical and if this interaction (co-exposure) of the neuropharmaceutical and calcium influence the behavior, concentration of neurotransmitters (e.g. dopamine and serotonin), and, consequently, the function of hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis, fertilization/hatching and embryonic development. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate if different water calcium concentrations affect the bioavailability and biological responses of CBZ in Astyanax altiparanae males. (AU)