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Assessment of toxicity using dehydrogenases activity and mathematical modeling

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Abstract

Dehydrogenase activity is frequently used to assess the general condition of microorganisms in soil and activated sludge. Many studies have investigated the inhibition of dehydrogenase activity by various compounds, including heavy metal ions. However, the time after which the measurements are carried out is often chosen arbitrarily. Thus, it can be difficult to estimate how the toxic effects of compounds vary during the reaction and when the maximum of the effect would be reached. Hence, the aim of this study was to create simple and useful mathematical model describing changes in dehydrogenase activity during exposure to substances that inactivate enzymes. Our model is based on the Lagergrens pseudo-first-order equation, the rate of chemical reactions, enzyme activity, and inactivation and was created to describe short-term changes in dehydrogenase activity. The main assumption of our model is that toxic substances cause irreversible inactivation of enzyme units. The model is able to predict the maximum direct toxic effect (MDTE) and the time to reach this maximum (TMDTE). In order to validate our model, we present two examples: inactivation of dehydrogenase in microorganisms in soil and activated sludge. The model was applied successfully for cadmium and copper ions. Our results indicate that the predicted MDTE and TMDTE are more appropriate than EC50 and IC50 for toxicity assessments, except for long exposure times.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Maria Żytka for her support in model derivation and Przemysław Błasiak for the valuable comments on our manuscript. We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing. Experiments on activated sludge dehydrogenases activity were funded by Silesian University of Technology, Environmental Biotechnology Department; experiments on soil dehydrogenase activity and language editing were funded by Wrocław University of Technology, Environmental Engineering Faculty.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Engineering Faculty, Department of Ecologistics and Environmental Risk Management, Wrocław University of Technology, Wroclaw, Poland

    Konrad Matyja & Kazimierz Grabas

  2. Environmental Biotechnology Department, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

    Anna Małachowska-Jutsz

  3. Faculty of Chemistry, Department of Advanced Material Technologies, Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław, Poland

    Anna K. Mazur

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  1. Konrad Matyja
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  2. Anna Małachowska-Jutsz
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Correspondence to Konrad Matyja.

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Matyja, K., Małachowska-Jutsz, A., Mazur, A.K. et al. Assessment of toxicity using dehydrogenases activity and mathematical modeling. Ecotoxicology 25, 924–939 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-016-1650-x

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