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Metformin exposure at environmentally relevant concentrations causes potential endocrine disruption in adult male fish
Citation:
Niemuth, N., R. Jordan, J. Crago, C. Blanksma, R. Johnson, AND R. Klaper. Metformin exposure at environmentally relevant concentrations causes potential endocrine disruption in adult male fish. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Indianapolis, IN, 34(2):291-296, (2015).
Impact/Purpose:
This first study of the effects of environmentally relevant metformin exposure in fathead minnows demonstrates the need for further study of the endocrine-disrupting effects of metformin in aquatic organisms.
Description:
Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are emerging contaminants that have been found ubiquitously in wastewater and surface waters around the world. A major source of these compounds is incomplete metabolism in humans and subsequent excretion in human waste. PPCPs that are poorly removed by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are discharged into surface waters in WWTP effluent. One pharmaceutical found in particularly high abundance in WWTP effluent and in surface waters is metformin, one of the world’s most widely prescribed antidiabetic drugs. Interactions between insulin signaling and steroidogenesis suggest potential endocrine-disrupting effects of metformin found in the aquatic environment. We carried out a four-week chronic exposure of adult fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) to a level of metformin similar to the average found in WWTP effluent and examined a host of genetic and reproduction-related endpoints. In male fish, metformin treatment induced significant upregulation of mRNA encoding the egg-protein vitellogenin, an indication of endocrine disruption. This first study of the effects of environmentally relevant metformin exposure in fathead minnows demonstrates the need for further study of the endocrine-disrupting effects of metformin in aquatic organisms.
