Event Abstract Back to Event Does pollution by pharmaceutical drugs compromise the regeneration of Diopatra neapolitana? Bruno S. Nunes1*, Márcia Silva1, Rosa Freitas1, Amadeu Soares1 and Alberto T. Correia2, 3 1 Centro de Estudos Ambientais e do Mar da Universidade de Aveiro (CESAM), Portugal 2 Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR), Portugal 3 Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde da Universidade Fernando Pessoa (FCS-UFP), Portugal The release of pharmaceutical drugs into the aquatic environment is responsible for specific environmental concern. Studies developed so far have shown that pharmaceutical residues are not exempt of ecotoxicity, but only a restricted number of them was undertaken to characterize the toxic response of marine invertebrates, namely polychaetes. This is the case of the drug paracetamol, whose toxicity towards aquatic organisms has recently been evidenced. Being used in large amounts, paracetamol may pose environmental unsuspected risks to a large number of non-target species, exposed through direct contact with urban effluents. The present study intended to know the toxicological response (biochemical and histopathological effects) and regeneration capacity of injured individuals of the polychaete species Diopatra neapolitana, exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of paracetamol for different periods of exposure. In terms of the histopathological assessment, no significant differences were recorded between exposed and non-exposed organisms, along all sampling intervals. In terms of biochemical effects, it was possible to observe a significant decrease in the activity of the enzyme AChE in organisms exposed for 28 days, and an increase in GPx activity only for specimens kept for 11 and 18 days under the influence of paracetamol. No alterations were reported concerning the activity of GSTs and the levels of lipid peroxides, neither among experimental periods nor exposed and non-exposed organisms. This entire set of data questions the well-known pro-oxidative effect of paracetamol, already reported to occur in other aquatic species. Furthermore, paracetamol exposure did not cause tissue effects, namely during regeneration, showing that this process is not affected by this specific drugs in the selected conditions. It is possible to conclude that the recovery from physical aggression and tissue damage can in fact occur, even under exposure to paracetamol. Acknowledgements This work was supported by European Funds through COMPETE and by National Funds through the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) within projects PEst-C/MAR/LA0017/2013 and PEst-C/MAR/LA0015/2013. Bruno Nunes was hired under the program Investigador FCT, co-funded by the Human Potential Operational Program (National Strategic Reference Framework 2007, Keywords: Ecotoxicology, Pharmaceutical drugs, polychaetes, paracetamol, biomarkers Conference: XIX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies, Porto, Portugal, 5 Sep - 9 Sep, 2016. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: 1. ECOLOGY, BIODIVERSITY AND VULNERABLE ECOSYSTEMS Citation: Nunes BS, Silva M, Freitas R, Soares A and Correia AT (2016). Does pollution by pharmaceutical drugs compromise the regeneration of Diopatra neapolitana?. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: XIX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies. doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2016.05.00159 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 01 Jun 2016; Published Online: 03 Sep 2016. * Correspondence: Dr. Bruno S Nunes, Centro de Estudos Ambientais e do Mar da Universidade de Aveiro (CESAM), Aveiro, Portugal, nunes.b@ua.pt Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Bruno S Nunes Márcia Silva Rosa Freitas Amadeu Soares Alberto T Correia Google Bruno S Nunes Márcia Silva Rosa Freitas Amadeu Soares Alberto T Correia Google Scholar Bruno S Nunes Márcia Silva Rosa Freitas Amadeu Soares Alberto T Correia PubMed Bruno S Nunes Márcia Silva Rosa Freitas Amadeu Soares Alberto T Correia Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.