Biochemical and histopathological effects of glyphosate on carp, Cyprinus carpio L.

Glyphosate, also known by the trade names Roundup and Rodeo for agricultural use, is a broad-spectrum, translocated herbicide, used primarily in agricultural applications, and for vegetation control in non-crop areas. It is used as non-selective herbicide and for aquatic weed control in fish-ponds, lakes, canals, slow running water, etc. (USDA 1984). Glyphosate is perhaps the most important herbicide ever developed. Literature of toxicological and ecotoxicological properties of glyphosate is extremely sparse, considering its importance as herbicide. Generally, glyphosate is slightly toxic to mammals and fish, but it may have an impact on the aquatic environment and also on the other aquatic organisms (USDA 1984). Due to this, its toxicity investigation is very important. The study of sublethal effects is of special importance for toxicological evaluation of compound. The objective of this study was to investigate acute and subacute toxic effects of sublethal glyphosate concentrations in water to carp (Cyprinus carpio L.), one of the commercially most important fish species populating freshwaters of Yugoslavia.

Acute and subacute toxicity of atrazine to carp (Cyprinus carpio L.).

Investigations of acute and subacute atrazine toxicity in carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) were carried out. Acute toxicity was investigated in a semi-static test during a 96-hr exposition. The estimated LC-50 value was 18.8 mg/l. Subacute toxicity was investigated by exposing fish (carp) to different atrazine concentrations (1.5, 3.0, and 6.0 mg/l) for 14 days. Biochemical and histopathological changes in certain organs and tissues were investigated. The results show that atrazine leads to changes of varying intensity depending on the parameter tested, the organs and tissues examined, as well as the atrazine concentration. Biochemical changes were most prominent in the alkaline phosphatase, glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase activities whereas the most severe histopathological changes were observed in the gills.

Bioavailability and biological activity of wheat-bound chlorpyrifos-methyl residues in rats.

Wheat grain was treated with 14C-chlorpyrifos-methyl to generate bound residues for determining their bioavailability to rats. In a parallel experiment, bound residues were prepared with non-labelled chlorpyrifos-methyl to determine possible adverse effects in rats fed the grain-bound residue for 28 and 90 days. Two dose levels of 10 and 50 ppm were initially used on the grain. The 10 ppm led to the formation of 25.1% bound residues (2.51 ppm) after 6 months as determined by radiomeasurement. The higher dose was assumed to form 12.55 ppm bound residues. When 14C-bound residues were fed to male rats for 24 hours, the animals eliminated 75% of the radioactivity in urine, 7% in expired air and 8% in faeces after 3 days, indicating that the bound residues were highly bioavailable. A further "bioavailable" amount (4%) was found in selected organs.

[Juvenile ankylosing spondylitis and the joint hypermobility syndrome]. / Juvenilni ankilozirajuci spondilitis sa sindromom hipermobilnosti zglobova.

The problem of correlation of rheumatic diseases with mobility of joints in children and young individuals was not frequently been considered. The first of a few authors was C.J. Sutro who was concerned with this problem in 1947. The goal of our treatment was to prevent as long as possible the onset of ankylosis in our patients. They were treated by NSAID as well as by intensive kinesi- and hydrotherapy. All these patients, besides HLA-B27 have also A2 antigen, a possible gen for hypermobility. A prospective study should explain the significance and role of A2 antigen in these patients.

Intermediate alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Yugoslavia.

As part of a larger investigation of factors associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among Yugoslavian men, an attempt was made to measure the role played by alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency in the causation of those diseases. Almost 3,000 men from Tuzla, an industrial and mining center in central Bosnia, were screened for alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency. Twenty-six men heterozygous for the Pi MZ phenotype were found in this population. The men with the Pi MZ phenotype were compared with a random sample from the total population. The analysis of the data showed that there is an apparent physiologic impairment associated with Pi Z heterozygosity that produces a shift in the relationships between the different lung volumes without over-all hyperinflation, namely, an increase in residual volume at the expense of vital capacity. However, because of the low prevalence of the Pi Z gene, it does not appear to account for much of the high rate of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease found in this population.

Effects of the herbicide 2,4-DB and fungicide captan on reactions of mitochondria and chloroplasts.

The effects of the herbicide 4(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)butyric acid (2,4-DB) and fungicide N-(trichloromethyltio)-4-cyclohexene-1,2-dicarboximide (captan) on electron transport processes of mitochondria and chloroplasts have been investigated. Chloroplasts, isolated from spinach leaves (Spinacia oleracea L.), were treated with pesticide prior to the addition of electron acceptor and ADP. White potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) mitochondria were either incubated with pesticide before the addition of substrate, or they were treated with pesticide after the addition of substrate and ADP. Captan inhibited oxidation of malate by mitochondria and acted as an uncoupler. With succinate as sunstrate captan was found to stimulate state 4 respiration, as substrate captan was found to stimulate state 4 respiration, with the loss of coupled phosphorylation only at higher concentrations of fungicide. The herbicide 2,4-DB appeared to be 5 to 10 times less effective than captain. Both compounds inhibited phosphrylation-coupled succinate oxidation at higher concentrations and malate-coupled phosphorylation at lower concentrations. They acted as inhibitors of NADH-cytochrome c reductase. Both pesticides inhibited noncyclic electron transport in chloroplasts. The rate of ferricyanide reduction in the presence and absence of phosphorylating agents was reduced, and although the rate of ATP generation was reduced also, the P/2e ratio was not changed much under the influence of pesticides.

Screening of cellular immunity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis by phytohaemagglutinin skin test.

Phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) skin test was used for screening of non-specific cell-mediated immunity in 30 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its results compared with those obtained in age- and sex-matched controls with non-inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Purified protein derivative (PPD) of M. tuberculosis was used for testing of specific cell-mediated immunity in the same two groups. The reactivity to both PHA and PPD was found to be significantly lower in patients with RA, indicating the decreased cell-mediated immunity in this disease, as compared to controls.