Environmental risk assessment of four pharmaceutical compounds employing genomic tools and the seabream, Sparus aurata

Objective

Human and veterinary pharmaceutical drugs are more and more consumed worldwide. Their detection in the environment and their bioactivity has now raised concern for potential adverse effects on non-target species. Notwithstanding recent attention for their environmental presence, there are significant research gaps for existing pharmaceuticals with regard to their potential ecological consequences. In this study, the four most abundantly used pharmaceuticals: Acetaminophen, Carbamazepine, Trimethoprim y Atenolol, will be examined for their long term effect on the genomic and proteomic expression of the gilthead seabream, Sparus aurata. These endpoints provide useful information on the xenobiotic-induced impairment resulting in the activation and silencing of specific genes by elucidating the underlying molecular mechanisms of higher level damage. Gene expression and protein products will be evaluated in liver and brain as target tissues by microarray and 2D differential gel electrophoresis (2D DIGE) techniques, and significantly up and down regulated proteins will be identified by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS–MS). These responses will be compared with the histopathological effects observed by histomorphological and histochemical techniques to link the toxic responses at different organizational levels. Together with already available toxicity data for this species and the chosen pharmaceutical compounds, we aim to elucidate toxicity mechanisms at molecular level that are linked with effects at higher organizational level. This will help to improve extrapolation techniques from laboratory tests to derive potential ecosystem effects. Also, the knowledge of molecular pathways and proteins involved in toxic processes forms the base for the development of specific biomarkers which will supply decision makers with information for the further monitoring of the effects of pharmaceuticals in the environment and the regulation of these compounds.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

• medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs
• natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
• natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
• natural sciences chemical sciences electrochemistry electrophoresis
• natural sciences chemical sciences analytical chemistry mass spectrometry

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

• Anthropogenic impact on ecosystems
• Coastal ecosystems
• Ecotoxicology
• Environmental genomics
• Environmental risk assessment
• Genomics
• Proteomics
• Toxicology

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

• FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

• PEOPLE-2007-2-2.ERG - Marie Curie Action: "European Reintegration Grants"

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-ERG-2008
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MC-ERG - European Re-integration Grants (ERG)

Coordinator