Small organisms, significant impact: Unveiling NSAIDs interactions with model species

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are among the most commonly used pain-relieving, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic drugs. When they were introduced to the pharmaceutical market, large-scale toxicological studies were conducted to determine their effect on the human body. However, their widespread use contributed to the presence of these drugs and their metabolites in the environment, including soil and water, where they can affect organisms that are not the direct targets of action. Hence, it is extremely important to correctly estimate the toxicity of these drugs on organisms inhabiting various biocenoses. The presented review attempts to summarise the current results on the effect of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs obtained in studies on model organisms and presents a wider spectrum of issues related to the toxicity of these drugs, including the human microbiome. The paper shows that limiting studies only to typical model organisms, despite the fact that such studies provide a number of answers, may underestimate the negative impact of these compounds in relation to other, less frequently tested microorganisms.