ABSTRACT
The widespread use of atrazine, a herbicide used to control weeds, has contributed to the increased contamination of aquatic environments. To assess the toxicological effects of a xenobiotic on a nontarget organism in the laboratory, different models of toxicological exposure systems have been widely used. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the action of sublethal concentrations of atrazine on the hepatic histology of Oreochromis niloticus, considering two models of exposure: static (where atrazine was only added once) and semi-static (where atrazine was periodically renewed). Fish were exposed to a concentration of 2 ppm atrazine for 15 days, which was verified by high-performance liquid chromatography. The livers were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and histopathological data were collected. In addition, they were submitted to immunohistochemistry for inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). A maximum variation of 45% (static) and 12.5% (semi-static) was observed between the observed and nominal atrazine concentration. Nuclear and cytoplasmic changes were observed in both experimental models. Hepatocytes from the livers of the static system showed a degenerative appearance, while in the semi-static system, intense cytoplasmic vacuolization and necrosis were observed. iNOS positive cells were identified only in macrophages in the hepatocytes of fish in the semi-static system. These results directly showed how the choice of exposure system can influence the results of toxicological tests. However, future analysis investigating the by-products and nitrogen products should be carried out since the histopathological findings revealed the possibility of these compounds serving as secondary contamination routes.
Subject(s)
Atrazine/toxicity , Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury/veterinary , Fish Diseases/chemically induced , Herbicides/toxicity , Animals , Atrazine/administration & dosage , Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury/pathology , Cichlids , Drug Administration Schedule , Herbicides/administration & dosage , Male , Water Pollutants, Chemical/toxicityABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The different fields of biotechnology can be classified by colors, as a "rainbow" methodology. In this sense, the red biotechnology, focused on the preservation of health, has been outstanding in helping to solve this challenge through the provision of technologies, including diagnostic kits, molecular diagnostics, vaccines, innovations in cancer research, therapeutic antibodies and stem cells. OBJECTIVE: The main goal of this work is to highlight the different areas within the red Biotechnology. In this sense, we revised some patents regarding red biotechnology as examples to cover this subject. METHODS: A literature search of patents was performed from the followings Patents Database: INPI, USPTO, Esp@cenet, WIPO and Google Patents. RESULTS: Our analysis showed the following numbers from patents found: cancer research (8), diagnosis kit (9), vaccines (8), stem cells (9) and therapeutic antibodies (5), where the United States is the leader for most filled patents in Red Biotechnology. CONCLUSION: This mini-review has provided an update of some patents on Recent Patents in Red Biotechnology. As far as we know, this is the first mini-review report on Red Biotechnology based on patents.
