Effects of emerging contaminants on neurotransmission and biotransformation in marine organisms — An in vitro approach

Abstract The effects of gold (ionic form and nanoparticles — AuNPs) and pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine and fluoxetine) on enzymes involved in neurotransmission (acetylcholinesterase — AChE) and biotransformation (glutathione S -transferases — GST) were assessed by their incubation with Mytilus galloprovincialis ' hemolymph and subcellular fraction of gills, respectively. AuNPs did not alter enzymatic activities unlike ionic gold that inhibited AChE and GST activities at 2.5 and 0.42 mg·L − 1 , respectively. Carbamazepine inhibited AChE activity at 500 mg·L − 1 and fluoxetine at 1000 mg·L − 1 . GST was inhibited by carbamazepine at 250 mg·L − 1 and by fluoxetine at 125 mg·L − 1 . Increased AChE activity was found in simultaneous exposures to fluoxetine and bovine serum albumin coated AuNPs (BSA-AuNPs). Concerning GST, in the simultaneous exposures, AuNPs revealed protective effects against carbamazepine (citrate and polyvinylpyrrolidone coated) and fluoxetine (citrate and BSA coated) induced inhibition. However, BSA-AuNPs increased the inhibition caused by carbamazepine. AuNPs demonstrated ability to interfere with other chemicals toxicity justifying further studies.