Comparative mutagenicity testing of ceftiofur sodium: I. Positive results in in vitro cytogenetics

Cytotoxicity and degradation product identification of thermally treated ceftiofur

Ceftiofur (CEF) is a cephalosporin antibiotic and is a commonly used drug in animal food production. As a heat-labile compound, the residual CEF toxicity after thermal treatment has rarely been reported. This study was to investigate the potential toxicity of thermally treated CEF and determine the toxic components. By cytotoxicity tests and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) assays, the cytotoxicity of the thermally treated CEF (TTC) and the components of TTC was identified, respectively. Our results showed that TTC exhibited significantly increased toxicity compared with CEF towards LO2 cells by inducing apoptosis. Through LC-MS assays, we identified that the toxic compound of TTC was CEF-aldehyde (CEF-1). The IC₅₀ value of CEF-1 on LO2 cells treated for 24 h was 573.1 μg mL⁻¹, approximately 5.3 times lower than CEF (3052.0 μg mL⁻¹) and 3.4 times lower than TTC (1967.0 μg mL⁻¹). Moreover, we found that CEF-1 was also present in thermally treated desfuroylceftiofur (DFC), the primary metabolite of CEF, indicating that residual CEF or DFC could produce CEF-1 during the heating process. These findings suggest that CEF-1 is a newly identified toxic compound, and CEF-1 may pose a potential threat to food safety or public health.

Ceftiofur (CEF) is a cephalosporin antibiotic and is a commonly used drug in animal food production. This study investigated the cytotoxicity of thermally treated CEF.

Transformation of cefazolin during chlorination process: products, mechanism and genotoxicity assessment

Large quantities of cephalosporins have entered into aquatic environment in recent years, posing potential adverse effect to human health and ecological safety. In this study, cefazolin, one of widely used cephalosporins, was targeted to explore its transformation behaviors in chlorination disinfection process. With the help of ultra high performance liquid chromatography and high resolution mass spectroscopy, one chlorinated product and four oxidation products were detected in cefazolin chlorination system. The corresponding transformation pathways of cefazolin were proposed. Two kinds of reactions occurred in chlorination system, one was oxidation of thioether-sulfur to sulfoxide and di-sulfoxide, and the other was base-catalyzed electrophilic substitution of alpha-H of amide by chlorine atom. The pH value determined the occurrence of reaction types, and increasing chlorine dose promoted transformation of cefazolin. More importantly, genotoxicity in SOS/umu assay had an elevation after chlorination, which might be attributed to the formation of chlorinated product and sulfoxide during chlorination process.