The adsorption of drugs on nanoplastics has severe biological impact

Leonard Dick; Patrick R. Batista; Paul Zaby; Gabriele Manhart; Verena Kopatz; Lukas Kogler; Verena Pichler; Florian Grebien; Vince Bakos; Benedek G, Plösz; Nikola Zlatkov Kolev; Lukas Kenner; Barbara Kirchner; Oldamur Hollóczki

doi:10.1038/s41598-024-75785-4

You are here: University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna PHAIDRA Detail o:3771

Open in new window

Title (eng)

The adsorption of drugs on nanoplastics has severe biological impact

Author

Leonard Dick

Patrick R. Batista

Paul Zaby

Gabriele Manhart

Verena Kopatz

Lukas Kogler

Verena Pichler

Florian Grebien

Vince Bakos

Benedek G, Plösz

Nikola Zlatkov Kolev

Lukas Kenner

Barbara Kirchner

Oldamur Hollóczki

Abstract (eng)

Micro- and nanoplastics can interact with various biologically active compounds forming aggregates of which the effects have yet to be understood. To this end, it is vital to characterize these aggregates of key compounds and micro- and nanoplastics. In this study, we examined the adsorption of the antibiotic tetracycline on four different nanoplastics, made of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and nylon 6,6 (N66) through chemical computation. Two separate approaches were employed to generate relevant conformations of the tetracycline-plastic complexes. In the first approach, we folded the plastic particle from individual polymer chains in the presence of the drug through multiple separate simulated annealing setups. In the second, more biased, approach, the neat plastic was pre-folded through simulated annealing, and the drug was placed at its surface in multiple orientations. The former approach was clearly superior to the other, obtaining lower energy conformations even with the antibiotic buried inside the plastic particle. Quantum chemical calculations on the structures revealed that the adsorption energies show a trend of decreasing affinity to the drug in the order of N66> PS> PP> PE. In vitro experiments on tetracycline-sensitive cell lines demonstrated that, in qualitative agreement with the calculations, the biological activity of tetracycline drops significantly in the presence of PS particles. Preliminary molecular dynamics simulations on two selected aggregates with each plastic served as first stability test of the aggregates under influence of temperature and in water. We found that all the selected cases persisted in water indicating that the aggregates may be stable also in more realistic environments. In summary, our data show that the interaction of micro- and nanoplastics with drugs can alter drug absorption, facilitate drug transport to new locations, and increase local antibiotic concentrations, potentially attenuating antibiotic effect and at the same time promoting antibiotic resistance.

Keywords (eng)

AdsorptionTetracycline chemistryTetracycline PharmacologyAnti-Bacterial Agents ChemistryAnti-Bacterial Agents PharmacologyHumansMicroplastics ChemistryPolystyrenes ChemistryPolypropylenes ChemistryMolecular Dynamics SimulationPolymers Chemistry

Type (eng)

journal article

Language

[eng]

Persistent identifier

https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:3771

DOI

10.1038/s41598-024-75785-4

Is in series

Title (eng)

Scientific Reports

Volume