β-blockers as endocrine disruptors: the potential effects of human β-blockers on aquatic organisms

β-Adrenergic blockers or β-blockers have been used therapeutically to treat human hypertension since the late 1960s. The global market value and prescription rates of β-blockers keep rising substantially each year, and over the past decade the number of prescriptions has doubled. The widespread use of β-blockers has resulted in their appearance in the aquatic environment originating primarily from sewage effluents. The objective of this review is to analyze the literature as a means to determine the endocrine-disrupting potential of β-blockers in aquatic organisms. The mammalian adrenergic system is compared with the adrenergic system of fish and the homologous octopaminergic system in aquatic invertebrates, in particular mollusks. The structure and functions of these systems are linked to the molecular similarities between adrenoceptors and the octopaminergic/tyraminergic receptors, the various catecholamine molecules (epinephrine, norepinephrine, octopamine, and tyramine), and the processes controlled. Knowledge of these similarities as well as the effects of β-blockers, mainly in humans, is then used to create a broad picture of the endocrine-disrupting potential of β-blockers, particularly during the stress response. The main conclusion is that β-blockers have endocrine-disrupting effects.