Impact of Antibiotics as Waste, Physical, Chemical, and Enzymatical Degradation: Use of Laccases

Abstract

The first traces of Tetracycline (TE) were detected in human skeletons from Sudan and Egypt, finding that it may be related to the diet of the time, the use of some dyes, and the use of soils loaded with microorganisms, such as Streptomyces spp., among other microorganisms capable of producing antibiotics. However, most people only recognise authors dating between 1904 and 1940, such as Ehrlich, Domagk, and Fleming. Antibiotics are the therapeutic option for countless infections treatment; unfortunately, they are the second most common group of drugs in wastewaters worldwide due to failures in industrial waste treatments (pharmaceutics, hospitals, senior residences) and their irrational use in humans and animals. The main antibiotics problem lies in delivered and non-prescribed human use, use in livestock as growth promoters, and crop cultivation as biocides (regulated activities that have not complied in some places). This practice has led to the toxicity of the environment as antibiotics generate eutrophication, water pollution, nutrient imbalance, and press antibiotic resistance. In addition, the removal of antibiotics is not a required process in global wastewater treatment standards. This review aims to raise awareness of the negative impact of antibiotics as residues and physical, chemical, and biological treatments for their degradation. We discuss the high cost of physical and chemical treatments, the risk of using chemicals that worsen the situation, and the fact that each antibiotic class can be transformed differently with each of these treatments and generate new compounds that could be more toxic than the original ones; also, we discuss the use of enzymes for antibiotic degradation, with emphasis on laccases.

Insights into Antimicrobial and Anti-Inflammatory Applications of Plant Bioactive Compounds

“…Due to the increasing resistance of classic antibiotics against pathogens, they monopolize the interest in their use as an alternative or adjuvant therapy in specific disease states. However, the plant growth stage, specific morphological characteristics, geographical area, biotic stresses, and culturing conditions should play an important role in gaining the proper and marketable chemotype [ 32 ]. In this line, the important antimicrobial activities of essential oils (EOs) produced from aromatic plants were revealed with a potential interest for prophylaxis or therapy [ 32 ].…”

“…However, the plant growth stage, specific morphological characteristics, geographical area, biotic stresses, and culturing conditions should play an important role in gaining the proper and marketable chemotype [ 32 ]. In this line, the important antimicrobial activities of essential oils (EOs) produced from aromatic plants were revealed with a potential interest for prophylaxis or therapy [ 32 ]. The effect of EOs produced from aromatic plants on the seizure latency and severity of pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced seizures in mice was shown.…”

Potential activity of recombinant laccase for biodegradation of ampicillin

“…Previous study also reported the biodegradation of antibiotics, such as ampicillin and tetracycline by immobilizing the laccases produced by Bacillus subtilis in a copper-trimic acid (Cu-BTC) framework. Without chemical mediators in the enzymatic treatment, high efficiency of biodegradation for both antibiotics could be obtained [14,21]. In this study, the degradation of ampicillin was carried out without chemical mediators in the enzymatic reaction.…”

“…The presence of antibiotics in the water or soil can be problematic because it can lead to the emergence of drug-resistant bacterial pathogens. Besides, antibiotics affect not only the targeted bacterial population but also influence the non-targeted bacteria, causing ecological imbalance [11][12][13][14]. However, there are no simple solutions to tackle those problems.…”

A porous bentonite–coconut husk composite for the enhanced adsorption of selected emerging contaminants from aqueous solution

“…8 Unfortunately, antibiotics are only partially biodegradable and are not completely absorbed by both humans and animals. 9 Owing to their difficulty in degrading, antibiotics accumulate in the environment 10 and are known to increase the risk of cancer, have genotoxic and mutagenic effects, impact the immune, nervous and respiratory functions, and cause metabolic dysfunctions, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, and neurological and learning problems. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that microorganisms become more resistant to antibiotics when pharmaceutical residues are present in the environment.…”