Biotransformation of macrolide antibiotics using enriched activated sludge culture: Kinetics, transformation routes and ecotoxicological evaluation

Terzic, Senka; Udiković-Kolić, Nikolina; Jurina, Tamara; Krizman-Matasic, Ivona; Senta, Ivan; Mihaljević, Ivan; Lončar, Jovica; Smital, Tvrtko; Ahel, Marijan (2018) Biotransformation of macrolide antibiotics using enriched activated sludge culture: Kinetics, transformation routes and ecotoxicological evaluation. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 349 . pp. 143-152. ISSN 0304-3894

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.01.055

Abstract

The biotransformation of three prominent macrolide antibiotics (azithromycin, clarithromycin and erythromycin) by an activated sludge culture, which was adapted to high concentrations of azithromycin (10 mg/L) was investigated. The study included determination of removal kinetics of the parent compounds, identification of their major biotransformation products (TPs) and assessment of ecotoxicological effects of biotransformation. The chemical analyses were performed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry, which enabled a tentative identification of TPs formed during the experiments. The ecotoxicological evaluation included two end-points, residual antibiotic activity and toxicity to freshwater algae. The enriched activated sludge culture was capable of degrading all studied macrolide compounds with high removal efficiencies (> 99%) of the parent compounds at elevated concentrations (10 mg/L). The elimination of all three macrolide antibiotics was associated with the formation of different TPs, including several novel compounds previously unreported in the literature. Some of the TPs were rather abundant and contributed significantly to the overall mass balance at the end of the biodegradation experiments. Biodegradation of all investigated macrolides was associated with a pronounced reduction of the residual antibiotic activity and algal toxicity, indicating a rather positive ecotoxicological outcome of the biotransformation processes achieved by the enriched sludge culture.

Item Type:

Article

Additional Information:

We are thankful to the staff of the Central WWTP of the city of Zagreb for their cooperation in activated sludge collection. The technical assistance of Nenad Muhin is also highly appreciated. This research was financially supported by the Croatian Science Foundation (project COMPASS; grant number IP-2014-09-7031).

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Macrolide antibiotics ; Biodegradation: Biotransformation ; Transformation products ; Transformation pathway ; Ecotoxicological evaluation

Subjects:

NATURAL SCIENCES > Interdisciplinary Natural Sciences > Environmental Science

Divisions:

Division for Marine and Enviromental Research

Projects:

Project title	Project leader	Project code	Project type
Sveobuhvatna procjena ponašanja i sudbine farmaceutski aktivnih tvari u okolišu: makrolidni antibiotici i opiodni analgetici-COMPASS	Senka Terzić	IP-2014-09-7031	HRZZ

Depositing User:

Senka Terzić

Date Deposited:

27 Nov 2019 13:35

URI:

http://fulir.irb.hr/id/eprint/5057

DOI:

10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.01.055