Preliminary evaluation of Diopatra neapolitana regenerative capacity as a biomarker for paracetamol exposure

Abstract

An increasing number of studies established unequivocal relationships between exposure to pharmaceutical drugs and toxicity in wildlife. However, few studies investigated physiological alterations caused by such compounds in polychaetes. Thus, in this study, the effects of increasing concentrations of paracetamol were studied in the polychaete Diopatra neapolitana using tissue regenerative capacity as a biomarker. The obtained results revealed that individuals exposed to ecologically relevant concentrations (namely, 25 μg/L) of paracetamol exhibited significantly lower capacity to regenerate their body in comparison with control organisms. This study evidenced that paracetamol can induce significant physiological alterations in D. neapolitana resulting in an overall diminished regenerative capacity, which is of significance to a species with high ecological and economic relevance. Additionally, this study indicates the promise of D. neapolitana as a test organism in laboratory-based bioassays, but also as an adequate sentinel species to pharmaceutical drugs.