The Endocrine Disruption Induced by Ampicillin and Amoxicillin in Japanese Medaka (Oryzias latipes)

Abstract

The study was designed to determine the estrogenic effect of some penicillins on endocrine function in adult Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes). Vitellogenin (Vtg) produced in male fish has been used for a biomarker to study endocrine disrupters. 17β-estradiol (E₂) was used a positive control that was induced Vtg in male fish. Result of total protein qantification and ELISA for female and male fish were exposed to 17β-estradiol 10 ng/ml for 3~5 days. As a result, male fish exposed to amoxicillin respectively appeared 0.75, 0.23, 8.21 and 9.36‰ of 1, 10, 100 and 1000 ppm respectively, that value was elevated compared with control male fish. Male fish exposed to ampicillin respectively appeared 1.85, 4.68, 0.85 and 39.59‰ of 1, 10, 100 and 1000 ppm respectively, that value was elevated compared with control male fish. This study is one of the first reports suggesting potential endocrine disruption of some penicillins in aquatic ecosystem. These results suggest that vitellogenin and estrogen receptor induction patterns alter in male medaka treated with selected estrogenic compounds, and that these results may be useful molecular biomarkers for screening estrogenic EDCs (endocrine-disrupting chemicals) in the shortest possible time.