Maja Milanović

Occurrence of antibiotics as emerging contaminant substances in aquatic environment

The occurrence of pharmaceutical residues in the environment has become a subject of growing concern. Due to the constant input of the emerging contaminants in the surface water via wastewater which leads to the long-term adverse effects on the aquatic and terrestrial organisms, special attention is being paid to their presence in the aquatic environment. Most of the emerging substances, especially pharmaceuticals, could not be completely removed using the wastewater treatment. Pharmaceuticals are usually water soluble and poorly degradable. They can pass through all natural filtrations and then reach the groundwater and, finally, the drinking water. The trace levels of antibiotics could have a negative impact on the environment and public health because of their inherent bioactivity. This article is an overview of the presence of the antibiotic residual concentrations, methods and levels of detection and possible risks to both health and environment.

Conductometric study of sodium dodecyl sulfate - nonionic surfactant (Triton X-100, Tween 20, Tween 60, Tween 80 or Tween 85) mixed micelles in aqueous solution

The present study is concerned with the determination of the critical micelle concentration (cmc) of mixed micelles of sodium dodecyl sulfate with one of five nonionic surfactants (Triton X-100, Tween 20, Tween 60, Tween 80 or Tween 85) from conductance measurements. Based on the calculated values of the β parameter we have noticed that SDS-nonionic surfactants mostly showed strong synergistic effects. It was found that nonionic surfactants with mainly longer and more hydrophobic tails show stronger interactions with hydrophobic parts of SDS, thus expressing stronger synergism. The strongest synergistic effect was noticed in an SDS-Tween 80 binary system. The SDS-Tween 85 micellar system showed antagonistic effect, most probably because the presence of the double bond in its three hydrophobic tails (three C18 tails) makes it sterically rigid.

Phytotherapy and NAFLD - from Goals and Challenges to Clinical Practice

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a global problem and one of the most common liver diseases in the world. Various pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies seem to be non-effective and the patients are often advised not to expect a positive outcome. Hence, even in the modern Western society many patients reach for traditional herbal products. Silymarin, a lipophilic extract derived from milk thistle (Silybum marianum) has been used in liver and bile disorders for centuries. Strong antifibrotic, antioxidant, antiviral and anti-inflammatory activities of silymarin joined with its metabolic effect proven in vitro make it ideal as a drug candidate in the therapy of NAFLD. Several recent randomized clinical studies have demonstrated that silymarin versus placebo significantly contributes to amelioration of the liver condition affected by NAFLD since it reduces steatosis severity, liver ballooning and fibrosis, followed by lowered aminotransferase levels in both short and long lasting therapies. Silymarin is also as efficient as an insulin sensitizer in the NAFLD therapy, but with less adverse effects. Phase III clinical trials have confirmed silymarin to be currently the best medication for the NAFLD patients, but the problems associated with its standardization, formulation and dosage are yet to be solved. However, green tea (Camellia sinensis) and licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) root extracts have also been studied in the clinical trials in the therapy of NAFLD patients. Some other herbal products, which have been tested on animals and have the potential to be used in clinical trials, are briefly summarized in this paper.

Estimation of in vivo and in vitro exposure to bisphenol A as food contaminant

The goal of this cross-sectional study was to examine the occurrence of bisphenol A (BPA) in the morning spot urine taken from 145 female volunteers of various ages. Total urine BPA concentration was detected in 38.6% samples in the 0.92-70.96 μg/g Cr range. The majority of BPA + women belonged to the 25 + body mass index (BMI) group (54.5% were overweight and 43.4% were obese women). Occurrence of BPA in the urine samples was higher at 40 + ages. The maximum BPA concentration of 70.96 μg/g Cr was detected in the urine sample of an obese woman. It is known that BPA is highly toxic in vitro. In this study BPA impaired significantly the growth of all investigated cell lines, i.e. the EC50 values were reached at very low concentrations, in the range from 3.24 to 34.85 μg/mL. The obtained in vivo results suggest that a higher exposure to BPA could contribute to weight problems in women and the absence of the BPA in vitro selective toxicity studies indicates to its general toxic mode of action and raises awareness of the health risks associated with its ubiquitous presence in the environment.

May Patients with Alcohol Liver Disease Benefit from Herbal Medicines

Alcoholism is currently listed as the third leading cause of death. Chronic alcohol consumption brings serious medical complications like gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, respiratory system disorders. Liver can be seriously damage by alcohol misuse. Alcoholic Liver Disease (ALD) is the first important warning sign of alcohol abuse. Since effective therapies for ALD are still limited, natural products in the treatment of ALD become very important. In this regard, there have been done very few clinical trials with poor results. Silymarin, glycyrrhizin, garlic show some promising results in ALD patients while the in vivo and in vitro studies with green tee, quercetin and curcumin indicate positive effect on patients with ALD.

Seasonal variations of bisphenol A in the Danube River by the municipality of Novi Sad, Serbia

Seasonal variations of bisphenol A (BPA) were investigated in the Danube along the Novi Sad bank, Serbia using solid-phase extraction followed by gas chromatographic mass spectrometric method. The obtained results confirmed the presence of BPA above the limit of quantification (6 ng/L) in 22 out of 32 water samples at all eight sampling sites. Тhe BPA concentration varied from 1) for autumn, spring and summer. The high potential risk which is attributed to the elevated summer concentrations is probably the result of the increased human activates and weather conditions.

Pharmacokinetics and toxicity predictors of new s-triazines, herbicide candidates, in correlation with chromatogrpahic retention constants.

Herbicides, which are ubiquitously present in soil and food, have been proven to cause human health hazard effects, hence development of new herbicide-active compounds is recommended. In this paper, nine 2,4-bis(cycloalkyl)-6-chloro-s-triazines were considered as herbicide candidates and their pharmacokinetics and toxicity were reviewed on the basis of in silico descriptors. Both, pharmacokinetic and toxicity predictors were presented as functions of their lipophilicity, quantified with retention constants that were obtained by liquid chromatography. None of the candidates investigated has functional groups for genotoxicity hazards and endocrine disruptions; they have acceptable toxicity and favorable pharmacokinetic properties based on computer-aided analyses. Two candidates have been selected as lead compounds for further research.

Current experience and future perspectives of bromelain application in medicine

Bromelain is a complex mixture of different thiol endopeptidases which is derived from the pineapple stems (Ananas comosus, fam. Bromeliaceae). Bromelain is used in food industry for meat tenderizing, beer purification etc. A great number of studies conducted on cell cultures and experimental animals indicate that bromelain possesses antiedematous, analgesic, anti-coagulant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and hepatoprotective effect. However, there are only a few clinical studies which, under the clinical conditions, undoubtedly prove the therapeutic effects of bromelain in obesity treatment, sinusitis, tooth extraction pain, osteoarthritis, pityriasis rosea, burns and cardiovascular diseases such as angina pectoris, transient ischemic attack (TIA) or thrombophlebitis. The studies of chemoprotective activity have just been started, while the studies on humans have not been conducted yet. All studies confirm that bromelain is well tolerated as well as that it causes few side effects. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct new studies that would confirm the role of bromelain in the therapy of certain pathological changes. An overview of the clinical studies in which some bromelain pharmacological effects have been confirmed is presented in this paper as well as selected in vitro and in vivo studies which are the base for further clinical research.