Biodegradation of ritalinic acid by Nocardioides sp. – novel imidazole-based alkaloid metabolite as a potential marker in sewage epidemiology

Abstract The consumption of methylphenidate, a nootropic drug used to improve mental performance, is becoming increasingly serious. Methylphenidate is metabolized in human liver to ritalinic acid, which has been commonly detected in sewage and surface waters. Additionally, ritalinic acid serves as a biomarker in sewage epidemiology studies. Thus knowledge of the stability and microbial degradation pathways of ritalinic acid is essential for proper estimation of methylphenidate consumption. In the study reported here, we describe the fast formation of a previously unknown, dead-end metabolite of ritalinic acid by Nocardioides sp. strain MW5. HRMS and 2D NMR analyses allowed precisely identification of the compound as an imidazole-based alkaloid cation with chemical formula 11‐[3‐(formylamino)propyl]‐1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9-octahydrodipyrido[1,2-a:1′,2′-c]imidazole-5-ium. In experiments, Nocardioides sp. strain MW5 transformed 34% of ritalinic acid into this metabolite, while 52% was mineralized into CO2. Alkaloid was not biodegraded during the OECD 301 F test. This study provides new insight into the environmental fate of methylphenidate and its metabolites. The data collected are essential for assessing nootropic drug consumption by sewage epidemiology and should lead to a better understanding of microbial degradation of ritalinic acid.