Os efeitos tóxicos do antirretroviral nevirapina e um medicamento à base de nevirapina para organismos aquáticos

Abstract

The aquatic toxicity of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and drugs is little discussed in literature. Nevirapine (NVP) is an antiretroviral, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. This study evaluated the aquatic toxicity of this API alone and as an NVP-based drug. For this purpose, we analyzed the effects on the viability of the aquatic organisms Chlorella vulgaris, Artemia salina and Aliivibrio fischeri. The observed effects were, per organisms: the growth inhibition tests for 72 h for the microalgae C. vulgaris; the mortality for 24 h for the microcrustacean A. salina; and the bioluminescence inhibition test for 15 min for the bacteria A. fischeri. The non-parametric log-logistic dose-response statistical model was used to obtain effective concentrations (EC) of 50% and 10%, for NVP API and for the NVP-based drug. Isolated NVP affected the viability of three studied species; on the other hand, the drug based on NVP was not toxic to A. salina. It is noteworthy that the EC50% of NVP differed statistically between the API and the drug for A. fischeri and A. salina. It was also observed that there is a narrow concentration range between the appearance of the first observable effects and the toxic effects of NVP in these species. This reinforces the importance of studying and controlling the release of this API into the environment. Finally, it was concluded that it is possible to implement monitoring of the environmental toxicity of micropollutants in the industrial routine, using standardized and economically accessible toxicity tests, which offer speed and practicality in the analysis of effluents.