Study of behavioural and metabolomic changes in Daphnia Magna exposed to neuroactive pharmaceuticals

Author

Aparicio González, Meritxell

Abstract

Due to the increase in human production and consumption by drugs, as well as by animals or agriculture, their presence in surface waters has increased in recent years. This contamination can affect both humans and organisms in the aquatic environment, modifying their biological and physiological behavior. For this reason, scientific publications and studies have increased since it is a topic of great global interest.
In this study, Daphnia Magna has been used as an aquatic organism since this species has a central nervous system (CNS) and a genome that can be related to vertebrates. Therefore, in this work, Daphnia Magna has been exposed to different neuroactive drugs that affect the CNS and the cardiovascular system. Once exposed, the distance traveled and the beats per minute were determined to evaluate the differences in terms of the control organisms (which were not exposed) and, thus, evaluate the effects of the drugs.
In addition, an analytical method based on ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS / MS) has been optimized to determine the metabolites present in the Daphnia Magna species and to study which drugs modify these. . . This analytical method has been evaluated in terms of linearity, sensitivity, and precision.

 

Director

Gómez Canela, Cristian

Degree

IQS SE - Master’s Degree in Analytical Chemistry

Date

2021-09-22