Toxic interactions at the physiological and biochemical levels of green algae under stress of mixtures of three azole fungicides

Assessing the interactions between environmental pollutants and these mixtures is of paramount significance in understanding their negative effects on aquatic ecosystems. However, existing research often lacks comprehensive investigations into the physiological and biochemical mechanisms underlying these interactions. This study aimed to reveal the toxic mechanisms of cyproconazole (CYP), imazalil (IMA), and prochloraz (PRO) and corresponding these mixtures on Auxenochlorella pyrenoidosa by analyzing the interactions at physiological and biochemical levels. Higher concentrations of CYP, IMA, and PRO and these mixtures resulted in a reduction in chlorophyll (Chl) content and increased total protein (TP) suppression, and malondialdehyde (MDA) content exhibited a negative correlation with algal growth. The activity of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) decreased with increasing azole fungicides and their mixture concentrations, correlating positively with growth inhibition. Azole fungicides induced dose-dependent apoptosis in A. pyrenoidosa, with higher apoptosis rates indicative of greater pollutant toxicity. The results revealed concentration-dependent toxicity effects, with antagonistic interactions at low concentrations and synergistic effects at high concentrations within the CYP-IMA mixtures. These interactions were closely linked to the interactions observed in Chl-a, carotenoid (Car), CAT, and cellular apoptosis. The antagonistic effects of CYP-PRO mixtures on A. pyrenoidosa growth inhibition can be attributed to the antagonism observed in Chl-a, Chl-b, Car, TP, CAT, SOD, and cellular apoptosis. This study emphasized the importance of gaining a comprehensive understanding of the physiological and biochemical interactions within algal cells, which may help understand the potential mechanism of toxic interaction.

Molecular dynamics simulations on interactions of five antibiotics with luciferase of Vibrio Qinghaiensis sp.-Q67

A large number of antibiotics have been used in the medical industry, agriculture, and animal husbandry industry in recent years. It may cause pollution to the aquatic environment and ultimately threaten to human health due to their prolonged exposure to the environment. We aim to study the toxicity mechanism of enrofloxacin (ENR), chlortetracycline hydrochloride (CTC), trimethoprim (TMP), chloramphenicol (CMP), and erythromycin (ETM) to luciferase of Vibrio Qinghaiensis sp.-Q67 (Q67) by using toxicity testing combined with molecular docking, molecular dynamics, and binding free energy analysis. The curve categories for ENR were different from the other four antibiotics, with ENR being J-type and the rest being S-type, and the toxicity of these five antibiotics (pEC50) followed the order of ENR (7.281) > ETM (6.814) > CMP (6.672) > CTC (6.400) > TMP (6.123), the order of toxicity value is consistent with the the magnitude of the binding free energy (ENR (-47.759 kcal/mol), ETM (-46.821 kcal/mol), CMP (-42.905 kcal/mol), CTC (-40.946 kcal/mol), TMP (-28.251 kcal/mol)). The van der Waals force provided the most important contribution to the binding free energy of the five antibiotics in the binding system with Q67 luciferase. Therefore, the dominant factor for the binding of antibiotics to luciferase was shape compensation. The face-to-face π-π stacking interaction between the diazohexane structure outside the active pocket region and the indoles structure of Phe194 and Phe250 in the molecular structure was the main reason for the highest toxicity value of antibiotic ENR. The hormesis effect of ENR has a competitive binding relationship with the α and β subunits of luciferase. Homology modeling, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations and binding free energy calculations were used to derive the toxicity magnitude of different antibiotics against Q67, and insights at the molecular level. The conclusion of toxicological experiments verified the correctness of the simulation results. This study contributes to the understanding of toxicity mechanisms of five antibiotics and facilitates risk assessment of antibiotic contaminants in the aquatic environment.

Mechanism of time-dependent toxicity of quinolone antibiotics on luminescent bacteria Vibrio qinghaiensis sp.-Q67

Four quinolone antibiotics (ciprofloxacin (CIP), enrofloxacin (ENR), sparfloxacin (SPA), gatifloxacin (GAT)) and their binary mixtures at environmentally relevant concentrations exhibited time-dependent hormesis on Vibrio qinghaiensis sp.-Q67 (Q67). The study aims to investigate the time-dependent toxicity of low-dose pollutants and the occurrence of hormesis. These indicators, total protein (TP), reactive oxygen species (ROS), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), malondialdehyde (MDA) and luminescence-related chemicals flavin mononucleotide (FMN), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), were measured to explore the mechanism of hormesis. The results showed a trend of increases in all indicators after 12 h of exposure, reaching maximal effects at 60 h and then decreasing as time progressed. At 36 h, 60 h and 84 h, the results showed a gradual increase followed by a decreasing trend in TP, FMN and NADH as the concentration in the group increased, whereas ROS, CAT, SOD and MDA showed the opposite trend. Notably, the degree of changes was related to the magnitude of hormesis. At low concentrations, the content of ROS and MDA decreased, the activity of CAT and SOD was lower, but the content of TP, FMN, NADH gradually increased, positively correlated with the promotion of Q67. At high concentrations, ROS and MDA content in Q67 increased, triggering the antioxidant defense mechanism (CAT and SOD activity increased), but TP, FMN, NADH content decreased, negatively correlated with the inhibited Q67. Therefore, our findings demonstrated two common patterns in these seven biochemical indicators on Q67. These findings have important practical implications for the ecological risk assessment of antibiotics in aquatic environment.

Toxicity interactions of azole fungicide mixtures on Chlorella pyrenoidosa

It is acknowledged that azole fungicides may release into the environment and pose potential toxic risks. The combined toxicity interactions of azole fungicide mixtures, however, are still not fully understood. The combined toxicities and its toxic interactions of 225 binary mixtures and 126 multi-component mixtures on Chlorella pyrenoidosa were performed in this study. The results demonstrated that the negative logarithm 50% effect concentration (pEC₅₀ ) of 10 azole fungicides to Chlorella pyrenoidosa at 96 h ranged from 4.23 (triadimefon) to 7.22 (ketoconazole), while the pEC₅₀ values of the 351 mixtures ranged from 3.91 to 7.44. The high toxicities were found for the mixtures containing epoxiconazole. According to the results of the model deviation ratio (MDR) calculated from the concentration addition (MDR_CA ), 243 out of 351 (69.23%) mixtures presented additive effect at the 10% effect, while the 23.08% and 7.69% of mixtures presented synergistic and antagonistic effects, respectively. At the 30% effect, 47.29%, 29.34%, and 23.36% of mixtures presented additive effects, synergism, and antagonism, respectively. At the 50% effect, 44.16%, 34.76%, and 21.08% of mixtures presented additive effects, synergism, and antagonism, respectively. Thus, the toxicity interactions at low concentration (10% effect) were dominated by additive effect (69.23%), whereas 55.84% of mixtures induced synergism and antagonism at high concentration (50% effect). Climbazole and imazalil were the most frequency of components presented in the additive mixtures. Epoxiconazole was the key component induced the synergistic effects, while clotrimazole was the key component in the antagonistic mixtures.

Concentration Addition, Independent Action, and Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships for Chemical Mixture Toxicities of the Disinfection By products of Haloacetic Acids on the Green Alga Raphidocelis subcapitata

The potential toxicity of haloacetic acids (HAAs), common disinfection by products (DBPs), has been widely studied; but their combined effects on freshwater green algae remain poorly understood. The present study was conducted to investigate the toxicological interactions of HAA mixtures in the green alga Raphidocelis subcapitata and predict the DBP mixture toxicities based on concentration addition, independent action, and quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models. The acute toxicities of 6 HAAs (iodoacetic acid [IAA], bromoacetic acid [BAA], chloroacetic acid [CAA], dichloroacetic acid [DCAA], trichloroacetic acid [TCAA], and tribromoacetic acid [TBAA]) and their 68 binary mixtures to the green algae were analyzed in 96-well microplates. Results reveal that the rank order of the toxicity of individual HAAs is CAA > IAA ≈ BAA > TCAA > DCAA > TBAA. With concentration addition as the reference additive model, the mixture effects are synergetic in 47.1% and antagonistic in 25%, whereas the additive effects are only observed in 27.9% of the experiments. The main components that induce synergism are DCAA, IAA, and BAA; and CAA is the main component that causes antagonism. Prediction by concentration addition and independent action indicates that the 2 models fail to accurately predict 72% mixture toxicity at an effective concentration level of 50%. Modeling the mixtures by QSAR was established by statistically analyzing descriptors for the determination of the relationship between their chemical structures and the negative logarithm of the 50% effective concentration. The additive mixture toxicities are accurately predicted by the QSAR model based on 2 parameters, the octanol-water partition coefficient and the acid dissociation constant (pK_a ). The toxicities of synergetic mixtures can be interpreted with the total energy (E_T ) and pK_a of the mixtures. Dipole moment and E_T are the quantum descriptors that influence the antagonistic mixture toxicity. Therefore, in silico modeling may be a useful tool in predicting disinfection by-product mixture toxicities. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:1431-1442. © 2021 SETAC.

Toxic mechanism of three azole fungicides and their mixture to green alga Chlorella pyrenoidosa

Currently, few studies have investigated the joint toxicity mechanism of azole fungicides at different exposure times and mixed at the relevant environmental concentrations. In this study, three common azole fungicides, namely, myclobutanil (MYC), propiconazole (PRO), and tebuconazole (TCZ), were used in studying the toxic mechanisms of a single substance and its ternary mixture exposed to ambient concentrations of Chlorella pyrenoidosa. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), chlorophyll a (Chla), and total protein (TP), were used as physiological indexes. Results showed that three azole fungicides and ternary mixture presented obvious time-dependent toxicities at high concentrations. MYC induced a hormetic effect on algal growth, whereas PRO and TCZ inhibit algal growth in the entire range of the tested concentrations. The toxicities of the three azole fungicides at 7 days followed the order PRO > TCZ > MYC. Three azole fungicides and their ternary mixture induced different levels of SOD and CAT activities in algae at high concentrations. The ternary mixture showed additive effects after 4 and 7 days exposure, but no effect was observed at actual environmental concentrations. The toxic mechanisms may be related to the continuous accumulation of reactive oxygen species, which not only affected protein structures and compositions but also damaged thylakoid membranes, hindered the synthesis of proteins and chlorophyll a, and eventually inhibited algal growth. These findings increase the understanding of the ecotoxicity of azole fungicides and use of azole fungicides in agricultural production.

Ecological and human health risk of sulfonamides in surface water and groundwater of Huixian karst wetland in Guilin, China

Sulfonamide antibiotics are contaminants of emerging concern (CEC). These CECs raise considerable alarm because they are commonly present in water environments. Studies on the environmental existence of CECs in karst areas of Guilin (Southern China) have yet to be reported. Thus, this study aims to investigate the presence, temporal and spatial distributions of sulfonamides in surface water and groundwater of four major aquatic environments (i.e., aquafarm water, ditch water, wetland water, and groundwater) in the Huixian karst wetland system of Guilin. Furthermore, this study aims to determine the ecological and human health risks of individual sulfonamides and their mixtures. Ten sulfonamides (i.e., sulfadiazine, sulfapyridine, sulfamerazine, trimethoprim, sulfamethazine, sulfamethoxypyridazine, sulfachloropyridazine, sulfamethoxazole, sulfadimethoxine, and sulfaquinoxaline) were observed in the study area. The highest average concentrations of aquafarm water, ditch water, wetland water, and groundwater were those of sulfadiazine (48.24 μg/L), sulfamethoxypyridazine (1281.50 μg/L), sulfamethoxazole (51.14 μg/L), and sulfamethazine (20.06 μg/L), respectively. The potential ecological risks of the detected compounds were much higher in ditch water than in aquafarm water, wetland water, and groundwater. The most ecological risks were observed for sulfachloropyridazine with a risk quotient (RQ) reaching 335.5 to green algae and 152 to Daphnia magna in ditch water. Similarly, sulfachloropyridazine posed the highest ecological risks to green algae among the ten sulfonamides in aquafarm water (RQ = 3.39), wetland water (RQ = 2.98), and groundwater (RQ = 3.6). Human health risk for age groups<12 months was observed from sulfonamide in drinking groundwater. Ecological and human health risks caused by sulfonamide mixtures were larger than the individual risks. Overall, ecological and human health risks caused by sulfonamides were observed in the study area.

Joint toxicity of six common heavy metals to Chlorella pyrenoidosa

Six common heavy metals (Ni, Fe, Zn, Pb, Cd, and Cr) in the water environment were selected to present five groups of binary mixture systems (Ni-Fe, Ni-Zn, Ni-Pb, Ni-Cd, and Ni-Cr) through a direct equipartition ray design. Microplate toxicity analysis based on Chlorella pyrenoidosa measured the 96-h joint toxicities of the binary mixtures. Toxicity interaction of the binary mixture was analyzed by comparing the observed toxicity data with the reference model (concentration addition). The results indicated that Ni-Fe, Ni-Pb, and Ni-Cr mixtures showed additive effects at concentration tested. It was indicated that Ni-Zn and Ni-Cd mixtures presented additive effects at low concentrations whereas synergistic effects were seen at high concentrations.

Synergetic effects of novel aromatic brominated and chlorinated disinfection byproducts on Vibrio qinghaiensis sp.-Q67

Aromatic halogenated chemicals are an unregulated class of byproducts (DBPs) generated from disinfection processes in the water environment. Information on the toxicological interactions, such as antagonism and synergism, present in DBP mixtures remains limited. This study aimed to determine the toxicological effects of aromatic halogenated DBP mixtures on the freshwater bacterium Vibrio qinghaiensis sp.-Q67. The acute toxicities of seven DBPs and their binary mixtures toward V. qinghaiensis sp.-Q67 were determined through microplate toxicity analysis. The toxicities of single DBPs were ranked as follows: 2,5-dibromohydroquinone > 2,4-dibromophenol > 4-bromo-2-chlorophenol ≈ 2,6-dibromo-4-nitrophenol > 2,6-dichloro-4-nitrophenol > 2-bromo-4-chlorophenol > 4-bromophenol. The percentages of synergism (experimental values higher than the predicted concentration addition) on the levels of 50%, 20%, and 10% effective concentrations reached 61%, 41%, and 31%, respectively. These results indicated that the probability of synergism decreased as concentration levels decreased. The synergetic effects of the compounds were dependent on concentration levels and concentration ratios. The proposed quantitative structure-activity relationship model can be used to predict the interactive toxicities exerted by 105 binary DBP mixture rays of 21 DBP mixture systems.

Predicting the cytotoxicity of disinfection by-products to Chinese hamster ovary by using linear quantitative structure-activity relationship models

A suitable model to predict the toxicity of current and continuously emerging disinfection by-products (DBPs) is needed. This study aims to establish a reliable model for predicting the cytotoxicity of DBPs to Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. We collected the CHO cytotoxicity data of 74 DBPs as the endpoint to build linear quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models. The linear models were developed by using multiple linear regression (MLR). The MLR models showed high performance in both internal (leave-one-out cross-validation, leave-many-out cross-validation, and bootstrapping) and external validation, indicating their satisfactory goodness of fit (R² = 0.763-0.799), robustness (Q²_LOO = 0.718-0.745), and predictive ability (CCC = 0.806-0.848). The generated QSAR models showed comparable quality on both the training and validation levels. Williams plot verified that the obtained models had wide application domains and covered the 74 structurally diverse DBPs. The molecular descriptors used in the models provided comparable information that influences the CHO cytotoxicity of DBPs. In conclusion, the linear QSAR models can be used to predict the CHO cytotoxicity of DBPs.

QSAR prediction of additive and non-additive mixture toxicities of antibiotics and pesticide

Antibiotics and pesticides may exist as a mixture in real environment. The combined effect of mixture can either be additive or non-additive (synergism and antagonism). However, no effective predictive approach exists on predicting the synergistic and antagonistic toxicities of mixtures. In this study, we developed a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model for the toxicities (half effect concentration, EC₅₀) of 45 binary and multi-component mixtures composed of two antibiotics and four pesticides. The acute toxicities of single compound and mixtures toward Aliivibrio fischeri were tested. A genetic algorithm was used to obtain the optimized model with three theoretical descriptors. Various internal and external validation techniques indicated that the coefficient of determination of 0.9366 and root mean square error of 0.1345 for the QSAR model predicted that 45 mixture toxicities presented additive, synergistic, and antagonistic effects. Compared with the traditional concentration additive and independent action models, the QSAR model exhibited an advantage in predicting mixture toxicity. Thus, the presented approach may be able to fill the gaps in predicting non-additive toxicities of binary and multi-component mixtures.

Two-Stage Prediction on Effects of Mixtures Containing Phenolic Compounds and Heavy Metals on Vibrio qinghaiensis sp. Q67

Two-stage prediction (TSP) model had been developed to predict toxicities of mixtures containing complex components, but its prediction power need to be further validated. Six phenolic compounds and six heavy metals were selected as mixture components. One mixture (M1) was built with equivalent-effect concentration ratio and four mixtures (M2-M5) were designed with fixed concentration ratio. In M1-M5, the toxicities were well predicted by TSP model, while CA overestimated and IA underestimated the toxicities. In M1-M5, compared with the actual mixture EC50 value, the prediction errors of TSP model (13.9%, 17.9%, 19.2%, and 17.3% and 15.8%, respectively) were significantly lower than those in the CA (higher than 30%) and IA models (20.9%, 33.0%, 20.6%, 21.8% and 12.5%, respectively). Thus, the TSP model performed better than the CA and IA model.

New compound heterozygous mutations of p. Thr101Ilefs 2 and p. Thr306Ale in a child from a Chinese family with 17α-hydroxylase/17, 20-lyase deficiency

We determined whether a child with 17α-hydroxylase/17, 20-lyase deficiency possessed the sex-determining region (SRY) gene, and examined the mutations present in the CYP17A1 gene that led to 17α-hydroxylase/17, 20-lyase deficiency. In the child, karyotype analysis was performed and polymerase chain reaction analysis and electrophoretic techniques were used to identify the SRY gene. A total of 50 normal individuals were included as a control group. Polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing were used to identify CYP17A1 gene mutations in all samples. The karyotype of the child was 46, XY, which was inconsistent with her social sex, SRY was positive, and a compound heterozygous mutation p. Thr101Ilefs*2 in exon 2 and p. Thr306Ale in exon 5 were identified in the CYP17A1 gene. These mutations were inherited from her parents. In the 20 normal individuals, these mutations were not identified. In the child, sex reversal may have been caused by CYP17A1 mutations. The compound heterozygous mutation of p. Thr101Ilefs*2 and p. Thr306Ale is a new gene mutation of 17α-hydroxylase/17, 20-lyase deficiency.

Linear regression model for predicting interactive mixture toxicity of pesticide and ionic liquid

The nature of most environmental contaminants comes from chemical mixtures rather than from individual chemicals. Most of the existed mixture models are only valid for non-interactive mixture toxicity. Therefore, we built two simple linear regression-based concentration addition (LCA) and independent action (LIA) models that aim to predict the combined toxicities of the interactive mixture. The LCA model was built between the negative log-transformation of experimental and expected effect concentrations of concentration addition (CA), while the LIA model was developed between the negative log-transformation of experimental and expected effect concentrations of independent action (IA). Twenty-four mixtures of pesticide and ionic liquid were used to evaluate the predictive abilities of LCA and LIA models. The models correlated well with the observed responses of the 24 binary mixtures. The values of the coefficient of determination (R (2)) and leave-one-out (LOO) cross-validated correlation coefficient (Q(2)) for LCA and LIA models are larger than 0.99, which indicates high predictive powers of the models. The results showed that the developed LCA and LIA models allow for accurately predicting the mixture toxicities of synergism, additive effect, and antagonism. The proposed LCA and LIA models may serve as a useful tool in ecotoxicological assessment.

Predicting synergistic toxicity of heavy metals and ionic liquids on photobacterium Q67

Results from three mathematical approaches to predict the toxicity of uniform design mixtures of four heavy metals (HMs) including Cd(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II) and six ionic liquids (ILs) were compared to the observed toxicity of these mixtures on Vibrio qinghaiensis sp.-Q67. Single toxicity analysis indicated that the ILs had greater toxicity than the HMs. Combined toxicities of HMs and ILs were found to be synergistic. The combined toxicities were underestimated by concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA) models. However, the mixture toxicities were effectively predicted by the integrated CA with IA based on multiple linear regression model (ICIM). We propose that ICIM model can serve as a useful tool for predicting the toxicity of interactive mixtures.

Modeling non-monotonic dose-response relationships: model evaluation and hormetic quantities exploration

Non-monotonic (biphasic) dose-response relationships, known as hormetic relationships, have been observed across multiple experimental systems. Several models were proposed to describe non-monotonic relationships. However, few studies provided comprehensive description of hermetic quantities and their potential application. In this study, five biphasic models were used to fit five hormetic datasets from three different experimental systems of our lab. The bisection algorithm based on individual monotone functions was proposed to calculate arbitrary hormetic quantities instead of traditional methods (e.g., model reparameterization) which need complex mathematical manipulation. Results showed that all the five biphasic models could describe those datasets fairly well with coefficient of determination ( R(2) adj) greater than 0.95 and root mean square error (RMSE) smaller than 0.10. The best-fit model could be selected based on EC(R10), RMSE, and a supplemental criterion of Akaike information criterion (AIC). Hormetic quantities that trigger 10% stimulation at the left (EC(L10)) and right (EC(R10)) side of stimulatory peak were calculated and emphasized for their implication in hormesis exploration for the first time. Furthermore, the EC(L10), proposed as an alarm threshold for hormesis, was expected to be useful in risk assessment of environmental chemicals. This study lays a foundation in the quantitative description of the low dose hormetic effect and the investigation of hormesis in environmental risk assessment.

Chemometric model for predicting retention indices of constituents of essential oils

Quantitative structure-retention relationships (QSRRs) model was developed for predicting the gas chromatography retention indices of 169 constituents of essential oils. The ordered predictors selection algorithm was used to select three descriptors (one constitutional index and two edge adjacency indices) from 4885 descriptors. The final QSRR model (model M3) with three descriptors was internal and external validated. The leave-one-out cross-validation, leave-many-out cross-validation, bootstrapping, and y-randomization test indicated the final model is robust and have no chance correlation. The external validations indicated that the model M3 showed a good predictive power. The mechanistic interpretation of QSRR model was carried out according to the definition of descriptors. The results show that the larger molecular weight, the greater the values of retention indices. More compact structures have stronger intermolecular interactions between the components of essential oils and the capillary column. Therefore, the result meets the five principles recommended by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for validation of QSRR model, and it is expected the model can effectively predict retention indices of the essential oils.

Two novel indices for quantitatively characterizing the toxicity interaction between ionic liquid and carbamate pesticides

Compound contamination and toxicity interaction demand the development of models that have an insight into the combined toxicity of chemicals. Two novel mixture toxicity indices, concentration addition index (CAI) and effect addition index (EAI), were developed to quantitatively characterize the toxicity interaction within four binary mixture systems containing carbamate pesticides and 1-benzyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (IL). To examine the applicability of CAI and EAI, we compared the indices with the other indices such as the sum of toxic unit (STU), model deviation ratio (MDR), and effect residual ratio (ERR) and isobologram approach. The results showed that CAI and EAI could more clearly and effectively characterize the toxicity interaction within IL-pesticide mixtures than the other four methods. According to CAI and EAI, IL-aldicarb, IL-baygon and IL-methomyl mixture systems displayed clear antagonism at relatively low effect regions, while IL-pirimicarb mixture systems basically exhibited additive action. The most interesting observation is that all five indices (CAI, EAI, MDR, ERR, and STU) are well correlated with the concentration ratio of IL in the mixtures.

A novel model integrated concentration addition with independent action for the prediction of toxicity of multi-component mixture

Concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA) have been used to describe the mixture of components having similar and dissimilar mode of action (MOA), respectively. Environmentally relevant mixture does, however, not follow the strictly similar or dissimilar MOA. A novel model, which integrated CA with IA based on the multiple linear regression (ICIM), was proposed for predicting the toxicity of noninteractive mixture. The predictive power of the ICIM model was validated by data set 1 including 13 mixtures of nine components and data set 2 including six mixtures of six components. For data set 1, ten uniform design with fixed concentration ratio ray (UDCR) mixtures was used as a training set to build an ICIM model, and the model was used to predict the toxicity of the test set consisting of three equivalent-effect concentration ratio (EECR) mixtures. For data set 2, the ICIM model based on four UDCR mixtures was used to predict the remaining two EECR mixtures. It is concluded that the ICIM model shows a strong predictive power for the mixture toxicities in the two data sets, and its prediction is better than CA and IA where the two models deviate from the concentration-response data of the mixtures. Thus, ICIM model is a powerful tool to evaluate and predict mixture toxicity, and maybe offer an important approach in risk assessment of mixture toxicity.

Prediction of blood-brain partitioning: a model based on molecular electronegativity distance vector descriptors

The objective of this paper is to build a reliable model based on the molecular electronegativity distance vector (MEDV) descriptors for predicting the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability and to reveal the effects of the molecular structural segments on the BBB permeability. Using 70 structurally diverse compounds, the partial least squares regression (PLSR) models between the BBB permeability and the MEDV descriptors were developed and validated by the variable selection and modeling based on prediction (VSMP) technique. The estimation ability, stability, and predictive power of a model are evaluated by the estimated correlation coefficient (r), leave-one-out (LOO) cross-validation correlation coefficient (q), and predictive correlation coefficient (R(p)). It has been found that PLSR model has good quality, r=0.9202, q=0.7956, and R(p)=0.6649 for M1 model based on the training set of 57 samples. To search the most important structural factors affecting the BBB permeability of compounds, we performed the values of the variable importance in projection (VIP) analysis for MEDV descriptors. It was found that some structural fragments in compounds, such as -CH(3), -CH(2)-, =CH-, =C, triple bond C-, -CH<, =C<, =N-, -NH-, =O, and -OH, are the most important factors affecting the BBB permeability.

Support vector regression and least squares support vector regression for hormetic dose-response curves fitting

Accurate description of hormetic dose-response curves (DRC) is a key step for the determination of the efficacy and hazards of the pollutants with the hormetic phenomenon. This study tries to use support vector regression (SVR) and least squares support vector regression (LS-SVR) to address the problem of curve fitting existing in hormesis. The SVR and LS-SVR, which are entirely different from the non-linear fitting methods used to describe hormetic effects based on large sample, are at present only optimum methods based on small sample often encountered in the experimental toxicology. The tuning parameters (C and p1 for SVR, gam and sig2 for LS-SVR) determining SVR and LS-SVR models were obtained by both the internal and external validation of the models. The internal validation was performed by using leave-one-out (LOO) cross-validation and the external validation was performed by splitting the whole data set (12 data points) into the same size (six data points) of training set and test set. The results show that SVR and LS-SVR can accurately describe not only for the hermetic J-shaped DRC of seven water-soluble organic solvents consisting of acetonitrile, methanol, ethanol, acetone, ether, tetrahydrofuran, and isopropanol, but also for the classical sigmoid DRC of six pesticides including simetryn, prometon, bromacil, velpar, diquat-dibromide monohydrate, and dichlorvos.

CoMFA and CoMSIA analysis of 2,4-thiazolidinediones derivatives as aldose reductase inhibitors

Diabetes remains a life-threatening disease. The clinical profile of diabetic subjects is often worsened by the presence of several long-term complications, for example neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy, and cataract. Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) were performed on a series of 2,4-thiazolidinediones derivatives as aldose reductase (ALR2) inhibitors. Molecular ligand superimposition on a template structure was finished by the database alignment method. The 3D-QSAR models resulted from 44 molecules gave q (2) values of 0.773 and 0.817, r (2) values of 0.981 and 0.979 for CoMFA and CoMSIA, respectively. The contour maps from the models indicated that a large volume group next to the R-substituent will increase the ALR2 inhibitory activity. In fact, adding a -CH(2)COOH substituent at the R-position would generate a new compound with higher predicted activity.

A new predictive model for the bioconcentration factors of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) based on the molecular electronegativity distance vector (MEDV)

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are some of the most prevalent pollutants in the total environment and receive more and more concerns as a group of ubiquitous potential persistent organic pollutants. Using the variable selection and modeling based on prediction (VSMP), the molecular electronegativity distance vector (MEDV) derived directly from the molecular topological structures was employed to develop a linear model (MI) between the bioconcentration factors (BCF) and two MEDV descriptors of 58 PCBs. The MI model showed a good estimation ability with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9605 and a high stability with a leave-one-out cross-validation correlation coefficient (q) of 0.9564. The MEDV-base model (MI) is easier to use than the splinoid poset method reported by Ivanciuc et al. [Ivanciuc, T., Ivanciuc, O., Klein, D.J., 2006. Modeling the bioconcentration factors and bioaccumulation factors of polychlorinated biphenyls with posetic quatitative super-structure/activity relationships (QSSAR). Mol. Divers. 10, 133-145] and gives a better statistics than molecular connectivity index (MCI)-base model developed by Hu et al. [Hu, H.Y., Xu, F.L., Li, B.G., Cao, J., Dawson, R., Tao, S., 2005. Prediction of the bioconcentration factor of PCBs in fish using the molecular connectivity index and fragment constant models. Water Environ. Res. 77, 87-97]. Main structural factors influencing the BCF of PCBs are the substructures expressed by two atomic groups >C= and -CH=. 58 PCBs were divided into an "odd set" and "even set" in order to ensure the predicted potential of the MI for the external samples. It was shown that three models, MI, MO for "odd set", and ME for "even set", can be used to predict the BCF of remaining 152 PCBs in which the experimental BCFs are not available.

Semi-empirical topological method for prediction of the gas chromatographic relative retention times of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs)

Quantitative structure-retention relationship (QSRR) studies have proved to be a valuable approach in the prediction of the gas chromatographic relative retention time (GC-RRT) of organic chemicals. Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners are now ubiquitous environmental pollutants. Of the 209 possible PBDE congeners, 126 have been synthesized and their retention-time data on seven different stationary phases has been determined [Korytár et al.:J Chromatography A 1065:239-249, (2005)]. To estimate and predict the GC-RRT values of all 209 PBDEs on different stationary phases, 17 molecular descriptors from the semi-experience algorithm in MOPAC program and the topological structures of PBDE molecules were calculated. By means of the VSMP (variable selection and modeling based on prediction) program [Liu et al.:J Chem Inf Comput Sci 43:964-969, (2003)], six optimal descriptors were selected to develop a QSRR model for the prediction of GC-RRT of PBDE. The descriptors contain some energy information (such as the energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital and highest occupied molecular orbital) and topological information (the number of ortho-, meta-, and para- substituted bromine atoms) as well as the molecular weight (lnM (W)). All the models developed were cross-validated using leave-one-out (LOO). For seven GC stationary phases, the estimated correlation coefficients (r(2)) are all more than 0.985 but for the column CP-Sil 19 (r(2) = 0.9392) and LOO-validated correlation coefficients (q(2)) all more than 0.985 but for the column CP-Sil 19 (q(2) = 0.9345).