Impact of anti-inflammatories, beta-blockers and antibiotics on leaf litter breakdown in freshwaters

Pharmaceuticals are now recognised as important pollutants in freshwater systems but a shortcoming of effects studies is that they have focused on structural endpoints and impacts on ecosystem functioning are poorly understood. The decomposition of organic matter is an important functional process in aquatic systems and it is known that this can be impacted by the presence of pollutants. Previous studies on leaf litter breakdown have only considered the effects of antibiotics and not other groups of drugs though. The current study investigated the effects of anti-inflammatories, a beta-blocker and an antibiotic on microbially mediated breakdown of leaf litter in the laboratory, colonisation of leaf packs by benthic macroinvertebrates when placed in a stream and shredding of leaf litter by these organisms. Furthermore, the effects of single compounds relative to their mixture were assessed. It was found that exposure of leaf litter to the study compounds did not influence its breakdown by microbes in the laboratory or macroinvertebrates in a stream. Exposure of leaf litter to pharmaceuticals also had no effect on its colonisation by macroinvertebrates in this study. Many unknowns remain, however, and further studies of the effects of pharmaceuticals on structural and functional endpoints are needed to aid aquatic conservation

Do concentrations of ethinylestradiol, estradiol, and diclofenac in european rivers exceed proposed eu environmental quality standards?

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Enteropatia proliferativa em eqüinos Proliferative enteropathy in horses

Enteropatia proliferativa (EP), causada pela Lawsonia intracellularis, tem sido descrita em eqüinos jovens. A maioria dos relatos de EP em eqüinos é proveniente da América do Norte. Não existe ainda relato desta enfermidade em eqüinos na América Latina, apesar de a distribuição mundial da enfermidade em suínos. Portanto, é bastante provável que a EP esteja sendo negligenciada no diagnóstico de diarréias em potros desmamados. Esta revisão enfoca aspectos gerais sobre a infecção, abrangendo desde a etiologia, a epidemiologia, a patogenia, os sinais clínicos, as lesões anátomo e histopatológicas, o diagnóstico e o tratamento, alertando sobre a potencial importância de L. intracellularis como possível agente causal de diarréia em potros desmamados.<br>Proliferative enteropathy (PE), which is caused by Lawsonia intracellularis, has been recently described in young horses. The majority of horse PE cases have been reported in North America. Despite the fact that PE in swine has a worldwide distribution, there has not been any report of this disease in horse in Latin America yet. Therefore, it is very likely that L. intracellularis has been neglected on diagnosis of diarrhea in weanling foals. This review highlights general aspects about the infection, including etiology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical signs, gross and histological lesions, diagnosis and treatment, and warns about the potential importance of L. intracellularis as possible causative agent of diarrhea in weanling foals