Behavior of diclofenac from contaminated fish after cooking and in vitro digestion

Flávia V Mello; Isa Marmelo; Fabíola H S Fogaça; Fernando Lafont Déniz; Mariana B Alonso; Ana Luísa Maulvault; João Paulo M Torres; Antônio Marques; José O Fernandes; Sara C Cunha

doi:10.1002/jsfa.13430

Behavior of diclofenac from contaminated fish after cooking and in vitro digestion

J Sci Food Agric. 2024 Mar 4. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.13430. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Flávia V Mello^{1

2

3

4}, Isa Marmelo^{4

5

6}, Fabíola H S Fogaça⁷, Fernando Lafont Déniz⁸, Mariana B Alonso¹, Ana Luísa Maulvault^{4

5}, João Paulo M Torres^{1

2}, Antônio Marques^{4

6}, José O Fernandes³, Sara C Cunha³

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Radioisotopes Eduardo Penna Franca, Institute of Biophysics Carlos Chagas Filho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
² Laboratory of Micropollutants, Institute of Biophysics Carlos Chagas Filho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
³ LAQV-REQUIMTE, Laboratory of Bromatology and Hydrology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
⁴ IPMA, Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Divisão de Aquacultura e Valorização, I.P, Lisboa, Portugal.
⁵ 4UCIBIO-REQUIMTE, Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit, Department of Chemistry, NOVA School of Science and Technology - NOVA University of Lisbon, Caparica, Portugal.
⁶ CIIMAR, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
⁷ Laboratory of Bioaccessibility, Embrapa Food Agroindustry, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁸ SCAI, Mass Spectrometry and Chromatography Lab, Campus Universitario de Rabanales. Edificio Ramón y Cajal, Córdoba, Spain.

PMID: 38437521
DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.13430

Abstract

Background: Seafood consumers are widely exposed to diclofenac due to the high contamination levels often present in aquatic organisms. It is a potential risk to public health due its endocrine disruptor properties. Limited information is available about diclofenac behavior after food digestion to enable a more realistic scenario of consumer exposure. This study aimed to evaluate cooking effects on diclofenac levels, and determine diclofenac bioaccessibility by an in vitro digestion assay, using commercial fish species (seabass and white mullet) as models. The production of the main metabolite 4'-hydroxydiclofenac was also investigated. Fish hamburgers were spiked at two levels (150 and 1000 ng g^-1 ) and submitted to three culinary treatments (roasting, steaming and grilling).

Results: The loss of water seems to increase the diclofenac levels after cooking, except in seabass with higher levels. The high bioaccessibility of diclofenac (59.1-98.3%) observed in both fish species indicates that consumers' intestines are more susceptible to absorption, which can be worrisome depending on the level of contamination. Contamination levels did not affect the diclofenac bioaccessibility in both species. Seabass, the fattest species, exhibited a higher bioaccessibility of diclofenac compared to white mullet. Overall, cooking decreased diclofenac bioaccessibility by up to 40% in seabass and 25% in white mullet. The main metabolite 4'-hydroxydiclofenac was not detected after cooking or digestion.

Conclusion: Thus, consumption of cooked fish, preferentially grilled seabass and steamed or baked white mullet are more advisable. This study highlights the importance to consider bioaccessibility and cooking in hazard characterization studies. © 2024 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Keywords: LC-MS/MS; bioaccessibility; cooking; metabolite; pharmaceutical; seafood.

Abstract

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