[en] Highlights: • Toxicity of five SAs to duckweed after prolonged exposure times was determined. • Shift in the order of toxicity of the SAs was observed in the prolonged test. • After irradiation concentration and toxicity of all the SAs decreased within time • Potentially produced photodegradation products less toxic than native forms • SAs toxicity in the prolonged exposure might be explained by different mode of action. Sulphonamides (SAs) are one of the most commonly used veterinary drugs and therefore their residues are regularly found in the environment. So far scientific attention has mostly been paid to the evaluation of their acute ecotoxicological effects with data on long-term effects for non-target organisms still largely missing. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to evaluate the potential toxicities of five sulphonamides to duckweed (Lemna minor) after prolonged exposure time (14 days). To elucidate whether their phytotoxic effects result from potential photodegradation products, the toxicity of standard solutions of selected sulphonamides was also investigated in a standard 7-day test but after irradiation (by keeping them under the test conditions) for the selected time (after 7 and 14 days). The ecotoxicological tests were accompanied by chemical analyses to be able to link the observed effects to the concentrations and nature of the exposed compounds. The results showed a shift in the toxicity of SAs: a strong decrease in toxicity for the two most toxic sulphonamides (sulphamethoxazole and sulphadimethoxine) and a slight increase in toxicity for three other SAs (sulphadimidine, sulphathiazole, sulphamerazine) in the prolonged test. However, a decrease in the toxicity and concentration of all the SAs was observed when stock solutions were irradiated prior to the toxicity experiment, which suggests that the observed effects towards L. minor of five SAs in the prolonged test cannot be directly associated with the degradation of these compounds under the test conditions but with their different mode of toxic action towards these organisms.

[en] A spectrophotometric method is proposed for determining sulfonamides in pure form and in pharmaceutical preparations , based on the charge transfer (CT) complex formation between phenosefranine as an acceptor and sulphonamides as as donors in acetate buffer (pH3). The factors affecting the formation of CT-complex were studied ,linear calibration graphs were obtained in the concentration range 1.07-16.70ug/ml at 25C. The minimum detection limit is in the range 0.428-0.573 ug/ml. The same complexes have been studied in aqueous media for conductometric mesurement The method could be successfully adopted for pharmaceutical preparations.The molar conductivity coefficients were found to increase with increasing temprature (25-35C)in all systems studied .The stoichiometry of the sulfonamides phenosefranine complexes were found to be 1:1 in both techniquecs. (author)

[en] To evaluate direct drug susceptibility testing on MGIT 960 system for detection of multidrug resistant tuberculosis from smear positive pulmonary specimens. Study Design: Cross-sectional analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: Microbiology Department, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, from July 2016 to September 2017. Methodology: Smear positive specimens were pretreated according to guidelines and then tested on MGIT 960 TB system for direct drug susceptibility testing (DST) of isoniazid and rifampin. Samples were also processed by gold standard indirect method, which comprises culture and then DST from positive growth by MGIT 960 TB system. Results: Out of 108 specimens, 95 (88%) DST results were reportable. Out of 95 reportable specimens, 17 isolates were resistant to both isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RIF) by direct DST. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy for INH were 92%, 93%, 82%, 97% and 92.6%, respectively; and 95%, 96%, 86.3%, 98.6% and 95.7%, respectively for RIF. Average time to report DST by indirect method was 23.6 ±3.9 days, while it was 11.4 +-2.7 days for the direct method. Conclusion: Direct susceptibility testing on MGIT 960 system showed very good agreement when compared with indirect method. Time saving is crucial factor in initiation of early effective therapy, especially in drug resistant cases. Further studies on large scale are required for more accurate evaluation of this method. (author)

[en] Highlights: • Enroflxacin and ciprofloxacin were the main types of antibiotics used in aquaculture ponds for cultured crabs. • Dietary assessment showed that EDI of all samples accounted for less than 1.6% of the ADI. • There were almost no risk associated crab consumption in China. The occurrence of 27 antibiotics (18 sulfonamides and 9 quinolones) in 92 samples of cultured Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) from three provinces (Anhui, Jiangsu and Liaoning) was investigated. These 21 antibiotics were detected at least once in crabs from these provinces with detection frequencies of 3.70‐90.91%. Sulfonamides were detected in 53.7% of the samples at concentrations of 0.1–10 μg/kg in Jiangsu, while quinolones were detected with 90.9% of samples containing concentrations of 1–100 μg/kg in Liaoning province. Enroflxacin, ciprofloxacin, sulfaquinoxaline, sulfameter, sulfadoxine, and sulfamethoxazole were the mainly used antibiotics and enroflxacin were present at a high concentration (>100 μg/kg). Dietary assessments showed that residual antibiotics in crabs from China were far below the maximum residue limit (MRL) of total sulfonamides and quinolones, and there was almost no risk associated with crab consumption. These results will provide meaningful indications for the safety of crab consumption.

[en] UV-irradiation (254 nm, 10 or 20 J/cm²) of p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) and p-aminosalicylic acid (NaPAS) potentiated their antimuta-genicity towards N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanide metagenesis in Salmonella typhimurium. Their inhibitory action towards the formation of mutagen N-methyl-N-mitrosourea from the nitrosation mixture of N-methylurea and nitrite was also increased by UV-irradiation. In contrast, UV-irradiated PABA exhibited no inhibitory effects towards the mutagenicity of sodium azide or 3-azidoglycerol. Neither PABA nor NaPAS not their UV-irradiation products were themselves mutagenic in the Ames assay. 13 refs.; 5 tabs

[en] Highlights: • Antibiotics in black-odor sediments across China were investigated systematically for the first time. • Totally 36 out of 44 antibiotics were detected in the sediment samples. • Oxytetracycline, ofloxacin, norfloxacin and tetracycline were the dominant antibiotics. • 12 antibiotic concentrations were positively related to total organic carbon. • Significant correlations were found between some antibiotics from same or different classes. Antibiotic levels in black-odor water could reflect the usage amount of antibiotics in population. On the other hand, these antibiotics are the source of antibiotics in the environmental water. Currently, researches on antibiotics in black-odor sediments are still lacking. In this study, 174 black and odor sediment samples from 74 cities in 28 provinces in China were collected for analysis. Among 44 targeted antibiotics, 13 antibiotics were detected in more than 30% of sediment samples. Fluoroquinolones and tetracyclines were the predominant antibiotics in these field samples, with average concentrations of up to 2074 and 1902 ng/g dry weight (dw), respectively, followed by macrolides (87.9 ng/g dw), lincosamides (8.06 ng/g dw) and sulfonamides (8.38 ng/g dw). High antibiotic contamination levels were almost always detected in black-odor sludges from economically less developed small cities; however, the difference in antibiotic concentrations between well-developed and small cities in China was not statistically significant. In addition, among the seven regions within China, no significant difference in concentrations was observed for the most antibiotics. Variances in antibiotic composition patterns in the 28 provinces of China may be due to differences in bacterial resistance, prescription habits, efficacy, and sediment carbon concentrations among various regions. There were significant positive correlations among some antibiotics in the same or different classes.

[en] Sulfadiazine is an antibiotic used in animals and humans, this molecule is being released increasingly into the aquatic environment, which is why the depletion of this molecule in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykkis) was studied using radiometric techniques with ¹⁴C, for which a specific activity of 3.5171 MBq mg^-1 was used, during 14 days in semi-static conditions. The study found accumulation in trout on day four 5.10 × 10^-4 mg g^-1 after the exposure phase, and 1.0 × 10^-4 mg g^-1 after the purification phase, indicates that the concentration used puts human health at risk because exceed the maximum residual limits. (author)

[en] Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which are emerging environmental contaminants, have posed great threats to global public health. Although extensive efforts have been undertaken to investigate ARG pollution, little attention has been paid to the structural information of antibiotics when exploring their impact on the emergence and dissemination of ARGs. In this study, setting Escherichia coli (E. coli) as the test organism, the effects of sulfonamides (SAs) on growth, mutation frequency and conjugative transfer frequency were tested, and quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) was used to quantitatively analyze the promotion of SAs on these biological effects and explore their possible mechanism. The constructed QSAR models reveal that SAs may increase expression of the FtsZ protein and pili in E. coli via binding to the SdiA protein, ultimately leading to SAs facilitation of growth, mutation frequency and conjugative transfer frequency. The results indicate that SAs can produce selective pressure on E. coli to promote the emergence and dissemination of ARGs. This study provides reference data for further investigation of the emergence and dissemination of ARGs under antibiotic exposure and a new perspective for the mechanistic exploration of ARG pollution.

[en] Sorption of sulfonamides on biochars is poorly understood, thus sulfamethoxazole (SMX) sorption on biochars produced at 300–600 °C was determined as a function of pH and SMX concentration, as well as the inorganic fractions in the biochars. Neutral SMX molecules (SMX⁰) were dominant for sorption at pH 1.0–6.0. Above pH 7.0, although biochars surfaces were negatively-charged, anionic SMX species sorption increased with pH and is regulated via charge-assisted H-bonds. SMX⁰ sorption at pH 5.0 was nonlinear and adsorption-dominant for all the biochars via hydrophobic interaction, π–π electron donor–acceptor interaction and pore-filling. The removal of inorganic fraction reduced SMX sorption by low-temperature biochars (e.g., 300 °C), but enhanced the sorption by high-temperature biochars (e.g., 600 °C) due to the temperature-dependent inorganic fractions in the biochars. These observations are useful for producing designer biochars as engineered sorbents to reduce the bioavailability of antibiotics and/or predict the fate of sulfonamides in biochar-amended soils. -- Highlights: •Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) sorption on biochars at pH 5.0 was adsorption-dominant. •Removal of inorganic fractions in low-temperature biochars reduced SMX sorption. •Removal of inorganic fractions in high-temperature biochars enhanced SMX sorption. •Anionic SMX was adsorbed on negatively charged biochar via charge-assisted H-bond. -- Solution pH and biochar property control the sorption amount and mechanisms of antibiotic sulfamethoxazole

[en] Highlights: • The changes of pH, TOC, and TN were almost eliminated by the large volume. • The water microbiota structures were affected by volume. • Volume, MGEs, and carcass decomposition primarily affect ARG profiles. • The ^dilution effect decreases adverse effects during corpse decomposition. Corpse decomposition may cause serious pollution (e.g., releasing antibiotic resistance genes) to the water environment, thereby threatening public health. However, whether antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and microbiomes are affected by different water volumes during carcass decomposition remains unknown. Here, we investigated the effects of large/small water volumes on microbial communities and ARGs during fish cadaver decomposition by 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing and high-throughput quantitative PCR. The results showed that the large water volume almost eliminated the effects of corpse decomposition on pH, total organic carbon (TOC), and total nitrogen (TN). When the water volume enlarged by 62.5 fold, the relative abundances of some ARGs resisting tetracycline and sulfonamide during carcass decomposition decreased by 217 fold on average, while there was also a mean 5267 fold increase of vancomycin resistance genes. Compared with the control group, the enriched types of ARGs varied between the large and small volume. Water volume, mobile genetic elements, and carcass decomposition were the most important factors affecting ARG profiles. Many opportunistic pathogens (like Bacteroides and Comamonas) were enriched in the corpse group. Bacteroides and Comamonas may be potential hosts of ARGs, indicating the potential for the spread of ARGs to humans by water pathogenic bacteria. This research highlights that the ^dilution effect can contribute to eliminating this adverse effect during corpse decomposition to a certain extent. It may provide references for environmental governance and public health.