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. 2020 Aug:157:111375.
doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111375. Epub 2020 Jun 11.

Ecotoxic response of nematodes to ivermectin, a potential anti-COVID-19 drug treatment

Naceur Essid  1 , Mohamed Allouche  1 , Mounira Lazzem  1 , Abdel Halim Harrath  2 , Lamjed Mansour  2 , Saleh Alwasel  2 , Ezzeddine Mahmoudi  1 , Hamouda Beyrem  1 , Fehmi Boufahja  3
Affiliations

Ecotoxic response of nematodes to ivermectin, a potential anti-COVID-19 drug treatment

Naceur Essid et al. Mar Pollut Bull. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

At the end of March 2020, ivermectin was confirmed as a drug for COVID-19 treatment. A significant amount of ivermectin could deposit into sediments of the semi-closed Mediterranean Sea, where three European COVID-19 epicenters are located: Italy, Spain, and France. Meiobenthic nematodes were exposed to three ivermectin doses (1.8 ng.g-1, 9 ng.g-1, and 18 ng.g-1) for 10 days. Ivermectin caused a great reduction in abundance. However, the diversity indices decreased only at high doses. Ivermectin disadvantaged the 1B-Cr-Id functional type (non-selective deposit feeders and nematodes with circular or indistinct amphids) and benefited the 2A-REL-Sp type (epistrate feeders and nematodes with rounded or elongated loop amphids). Thus, Trophic Diversity and Amphideal Diversity index values increased with sedimentary ivermectin enrichment. Large amphideal foveas were more efficient for 2A-REL-Sp nematodes to avoid ivermectin. The responses of the functional type 2A-REL-Sp and corresponding taxa predict post-COVID-19 environmental concerns and the bioaccumulation of ivermectin in seafoods.

Keywords: COVID-19; Ecotoxicity; Ivermectin; Meiobenthic nematodes.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Location of Ghar El Melh lagoon in relation to the Mediterranean Sea and the sampling site.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Changes in abundance (above/left) and diversity indices (above/right) of meiobenthic nematodes for the control community (C) and following the addition of 3 concentrations of ivermectin (D1, D2, and D3) and the corresponding non-metric MDS plot based on species abundances (below). Asterisks above bars indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Graphical summary (left) and non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) 2D plots (right) based on the abundance nematode functional groups for the control community (C) and following the addition of 3 concentrations of ivermectin (D1, D2, and D3). Selective deposit feeders (1A); non-selective deposit feeders (1B); epistrate feeders (2A); omnivores-carnivores (2B); circular (Cr); indistinct (Id); pocket-like (pk); rounded or elongated loop (REL); spiral (sp). Values (±SD) above bars indicate the Trophic Diversity Index (upper values) and Amphideal Diversity Index (lower values). Asterisks above bars indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Correspondence Analysis (CA) 2D plot based on the abundance of nematode species and functional groups for the control community (C) and following the addition of 3 concentrations of ivermectin (D1, D2, and D3). Selective deposit feeders (1A); non-selective deposit feeders (1B); epistrate feeders (2A); omnivores-carnivores (2B); circular (Cr); indistinct (Id); pocket-like (pk); rounded or elongated loop (REL); spiral (sp).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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