# Impact of sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, diclofenac, carbamazepine, and their mixture on the metabolism of Lemna minor: a targeted metabonomic study

## TL;DR

This study explores how common pharmaceuticals affect the metabolism of the aquatic plant Lemna minor, revealing changes in biosynthetic pathways.

## Contribution

The study introduces Lemna minor as a model for assessing the impact of pharmaceutical mixtures on plant metabolism using targeted metabolomics.

## Key findings

- Lemna minor modulates biosynthetic pathways to produce more phenolic compounds when exposed to pharmaceuticals.
- Phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, and folate biosynthesis pathways are affected by drug exposure.
- Pharmaceutical mixtures induce distinct metabolic responses compared to individual drugs.

## Abstract

Metabolomics is an analytical profiling technique that measures and compares large numbers of metabolites in biological samples, providing insight into metabolic mechanisms. There are few studies concerning the effects of xenobiotics and their transformation products on aquatic plant metabolites, which can uptake and detoxify them using untargeted metabolomics.

This study investigates how pharmaceuticals, including diclofenac (DCF) and carbamazepine (CBZ), as well as sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and trimethoprim (TRIM), present in aquatic environments, can influence the biosynthetic pathways of Lemna minor.Based on previous research on the effects of DCF, SMX, and TRIM on Lemna pathways, specifically phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan biosynthesis, folate biosynthesis, and the phenylpropanoid pathway, including flavonoid and anthocyanin metabolism.

Lemna was incubated with DCF, CBZ, SMX, and TRIM alone and in a mixture (MIX) at 5 ppb (5 µg/L) for 5 days, at concentrations near environmental levels. The methanolic extract was analysed using a Q Exactive Focus Orbitrap to investigate changes in the aforementioned biosynthetic pathways, as reported in previous studies.

Lemna can modulate its pathways to produce more phenolic compounds as a defence mechanism against various drugs. This modulation can be considered an indicator for each drug.

The presence of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment can affect the biosynthetic pathways of Lemna. Therefore,Lemna minor can be used as a model to study the stress-response of different pharmaceuticals on plant metabolites and their pathways.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11306-026-02405-9.