Antidepressants Found In Fish Brains In Great Lakes Region

[Mito]

Human antidepressants are building up in the brains of bass, walleye and several other fish common to the Great Lakes region, scientists say.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170831101457.htm

 

[Travis]

That was a great article.

"These active ingredients from antidepressants, which are coming out from wastewater treatment plants, are accumulating in fish brains," Aga says. "It is a threat to biodiversity, and we should be very concerned.

But he thinks these drugs are "antidepressants". That is a misnomer: These are prodepressents. Tens of thousands of suicide victims will agree.

"These drugs could affect fish behavior. We didn't look at behavior in our study, but other research teams have shown that antidepressants can affect the feeding behavior of fish or their survival instincts. Some fish won't acknowledge the presence of predators as much."

So are they lazy, dumb, or maybe just happy?

If changes like these occur in the wild, they have the potential to disrupt the delicate balance between species that helps to keep the ecosystem stable, says study co-author Randolph Singh, PhD, a recent UB graduate from Aga's lab.

It' okay to teenagers in milligram amounts, but FFS keep them away from the emotionally-delicate fish.

Emo fish⇑.

"However, the risk that the drugs pose to biodiversity is real, and scientists are just beginning to understand what the consequences might be."

Antidepressants stood out as a major problem: These drugs or their metabolites were found in the brains of every fish species the scientists studied.

The highest concentration of a single compound was found in a rock bass, which had about 400 nanograms of norsertraline -- a metabolite of sertraline, the active ingredient in Zoloft -- per gram of brain tissue. This was in addition to a cocktail of other compounds found in the same fish, including citalopram, the active ingredient in Celexa, and norfluoxetine, a metabolite of the active ingredient in Prozac and Sarafem.

"Effective" brain concentrations in people and mice seem to be about 10μM*, on the low end. This is equivalent to...

(10μmol/L sertraline) × (306.229g/mol) × (L/10³g) = 3.06μg/g = 3.06ppm

Three parts per million. Luckily, the fish were only at around .4ppm at the highest. And that was a less-active metabolite.

I hope this is the worst of it. The pharmaceutical marketing seems to be losing steam, and people are seeing through the cracks.

More than half of the fish brain samples had norsertraline levels of 100 nanograms per gram or higher. In addition, like the rock bass, many of the fish had a medley of antidepressant drugs and metabolites in their brains.

Evidence that antidepressants can change fish behavior generally comes from laboratory studies that expose the animals to higher concentrations of drugs than what is found in the Niagara River. But the findings of the new study are still worrisome: The antidepressants that Aga's team detected in fish brains had accumulated over time, often reaching concentrations that were several times higher than the levels in the river.

These drugs exist in higher concentrations in the brain than in the plasma. This is interesting. Check out this graph:

In the brains of smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, rock bass, white bass and walleye, sertraline was found at levels that were estimated to be 20 or more times higher than levels in river water. Levels of norsertraline, the drug's breakdown product, were even greater, reaching concentrations that were often hundreds of times higher than that found in the river.

*Henry, Michael E., et al. "Brain kinetics of paroxetine and fluoxetine on the third day of placebo substitution: a fluorine MRS study." American Journal of Psychiatry 157.9 (2000): 1506-1508.

 

[lvysaur]

So are they lazy, dumb, or maybe just happy?

Being non-threatened by predators is a very human characteristic. Obviously this isn't a good trait in wild fish, since the ocean is a lot more dangerous than human society. That alone isn't sufficient reasoning that the meds are bad for humans.

 

[DMF]

This should be in the mainstream news - but it won't be for the same reasons we don't read about these school shooters being on anti-depressants

 

[lvysaur]

These drugs exist in higher concentrations in the brain than in the plasma. This is interesting. Check out this graph:

Isn't this mostly due to all things being more bioaccumulative in fat than in water?

 

[Travis]

Isn't this mostly due to all things being more bioaccumulative in fat than in water?

I think all the very lipophilic molecules should tend towards lipid regions, but the hydrophilic molecules should tend to stay with the water. Some molecules, like ethanol and melatonin, are amphiphilic and can be found in both phases. Because the kidneys and lungs (gasses only) excrete molecules most rapidly, I think the reduced elimination rate—a function of water-solubility—is just as important as the initial disposition. On account of these being antidepressents, I think we can all be sure that they'd been designed with the brain in mind.

 

[Mito]

Antidepressants leaking into waterways could make crayfish bolder

Trace amounts of antidepressants washing into rivers and lakes could be making crayfish behave more boldly, and disturbing their ecosystems

www.newscientist.com