Researchers from pharmaceutical 3D printing specialistfabrx,伦敦大学学院和Universidade de Santiago de Compostela（USC）开发了一种新型的3D印刷装置，能够从水中除去药物。
The infiltration of pharmaceutical drugs into environmental water supplies is a key global issue that can have huge impacts on ecological equilibrium and pose significant risks to human health.
The team’s customizable and reusable biocatalytic device, called Printzyme, is able to remove certain pharmaceutical drugs from water, and could potentially help to tackle the world’s water pollution crisis in the future.
Pharmaceutical 3D printing
FabRX是UCL的纺纱利用3D打印技术to create personalized medicines and drug delivery devices.
该公司以前曾与UCL和USC合作开发personalized 3D printed chewable tabletsfor children with the rare metabolic disorder maple syrup urine disease (MSUD), and has leveraged 3D printing to fabricate itsPrintlets盲文和月球模式为有视觉障碍的患者提供药物服用。
最近，这三个合作伙伴共同努力开发3D打印的点子塞to combat dry eye disorder. The punctal plugs were loaded with the anti-inflammatory medication dexamethasone and inserted into the tear duct of an eye to block it and prevent liquid drainage.
Now, the team is turning its attention to investigating how 3D printing can help to reduce the harmful pollution of pharmaceutical drugs within our environmental water supplies.
药水污染
Nowadays, individuals will take dozens of medicines in their lifetime at increasing rates, especially with advancing age. As more medicines are consumed, more are subsequently excreted or disposed of and eventually find their way into our water systems. In fact, pharmaceutical drugs and their metabolites are reportedly present in nearly all aquatic environments, including drinking water, groundwater, and our oceans.
该污染是一个全球问题，抗生素，镇痛药，降脂药物和雌激素是全球报道最多的水泡药物，尽管真实规模在很大程度上是未知的。这种污染物渗入我们的水系统不仅对人类健康构成了重大风险，而且对生态平衡也带来了重大风险。
例如，Diclofenac最多产的药物之一，已证明对诸如秃鹰等迁徙鸟类的致命性，而污水废水中的雌激素导致了雄性鱼的女性化，从而极大地影响了其生殖成功。不仅是药物进入我们的水系统，还包括可卡因，阿片类药物和甲基苯丙胺等休闲物质。
而World Health Organization(WHO) has launched a working group to address the infiltration of pharmaceuticals into water, the methods proposed to remove drugs from water so far range in effectiveness. Sludge processes, biofiltration, reverse osmosis, and nanofiltration are just some of the methods put forward, with some offering drug removal rates of lower than 10 percent.
As such, FabRx, UCL, and USC are attempting to address the need for more effective techniques to remove drugs and pollutants from water more simply and cost-effectively via 3D printing.
3D打印printzyme
The combined team carried out a study to develop, manufacture, and validate a 3D printed biocatalytic device for the removal of drugs from wastewater at concentrated sources such as hospitals or pharmaceuticals facilities.
The Printzyme device has a fully customizable morphology and uses the natural enzyme laccase as a drug oxidating agent which has been proven to degrade a wide range of pharmaceuticals.
Photopolymer resins were prepared containing laccase, a photoinitiator (LAP), and a mixture of PEGDA and water. The enzyme-loaded resin was then poured into the resin tank of aFormlabs Form 2SLA 3D printer, from which four different shapes of Printzymes were 3D printed.
The Printzymes were fabricated in one and a half hours before being washed and cured in Formlabs’清洗和形式治疗machines,with more than 50 Printzymes able to be manufactured at the same time in cylindrical and torus shapes.
The Printzymes’ ability to remove drugs from water was tested using two model drugs, diclofenac and ethinylestradiol, which are both on the European water pollution watch list. Separate solutions of the drugs were prepared inside a 100ml flask, within which a Printzyme was deposited and continuously shaken at 100 rpm for 48 hours.
The Printzyme device was found to successfully reduce the concentrations of both drugs within the solutions, removing over 80 percent of dissolved diclofenac within 24 hours, and 95 percent of ethinylestradiol within just two hours.
根据研究人员的说法，这项研究证明了SLA 3D打印作为在轻度条件下诱使酶的简化方法的潜力。该小组表示，结果提出了一种“显着有效且可持续的”方法，可以从水中去除药物污染物，并为进一步发展生物修复技术提供了巨大潜力。
The Printzyme device was also proven to be reusable during the study, and could potentially help to more efficiently tackle the world’s water pollution crisis in a “flexible, easily scalable, and cost-efficient” manner.
有关该研究的更多信息，请参见标题为：“一种可自定义的3D打印设备，用于酶促去水中的药物，”published in the Water Research journal. The study is co-authored by X. Xu, T. Pose-Boirazian, G. Eibes, L. McCoubrey, J. Martinez-Costas, S. Gaisford, A. Goyanes, and A. Basit.
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特色图片显示研究人员的Printzyme设备可以从水中清除药物。图像通过水研究杂志。
