The stereoselective effects of chiral
ibuprofen (IBU) were studied using lipidomics by exposing adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) to an environmental concentration of 5 μg/L for 28 days.
After treatment with rac-/R-(-)-/S-(+)-IBU, the brain tissue of the zebrafish was harvested to analyze for
lipid metabolites by using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Results showed that the six classes of
lipids, namely,
glycerophospholipids,
sterol lipids,
prenol lipids, fatty acyls, glycerolipids, and
sphingolipids, including 46
biomarkers, were affected after exposure. The different influences on metabolites were observed in the rac-/R-(-)-/S-(+)-IBU-treated samples. The rac-IBU treatment remarkably affected nine
lipids. The R-(-)-IBU and S-(+)-IBU treatments had remarkably effects on six and four
lipids, respectively. According to the HMDB database and KEGG pathways, nine important
lipids were successfully matched to the involved biochemical pathways, such as
glycerophospholipid metabolism,
arachidonic acid metabolism, and
linoleic acid metabolism. Therefore, IBU can cause disorders in the metabolism of the brain
lipids of adult zebrafish and affect the composition of biological membranes, inflammatory responses, and cardiovascular and
cerebrovascular diseases. The significant difference in the effects of R-(-)-IBU and S-(+)-IBU on lipidomics indicated that chiral IBU has stereoselective toxicity to aquatic organisms. Our study provided new insights into the environmental toxicology and highlighted the hazard of pharmaceutical and
personal care product pollution in aquatic environments.