The frequent occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment requires an assessment of their environmental impact and their negative effects in humans. Among the drugs with high harmful potential to the environment are the antibiotics that reach the environment not only, as may be expected, through the effluents from chemical and pharmaceutical industries, but mainly through the sewage and livestock; because around 25 to 75% of the ingested drugs are excreted in unchanged form after the passage through the Gastro-Intestinal Tract. Tetracycline has high world consumption, representing a human consumption of about 23 kg/day in Brazil in 2007. At the moment, researches are being made to develop new tetracycline that incorporate heavy metals (Hg, Cd, Re, Pt, Pd) to their structures in order to increase their bactericidal effect. The conventional wastewater treatment plants are not able to degrade complex organic molecules to reduce their toxicity and improve their biodegradability. For this reason new technologies, i.e., the advanced oxidation processes, are being developed to handle this demand. The objectives of this study are to review the literature on the processes of obtaining tetracycline, presenting its waste treatment methods and evaluation of their environmental impact.Uniterms: Tetracyclines/production. Tetracyclines/waste/tratament. Tetracyclines/waste/environmental impact. Environmental contamination. Domestic sewage/treatment. Industrial wastewater/treatment. Advanced oxidation processes/wastewater treatment.A ocorrência frequente de fármacos no meio aquático exige a avaliação do seu impacto ambiental e seus efeitos negativos em seres humanos. Dentre os fármacos com maior potencial de impacto ambiental estão os antibióticos, que chegam ao meio ambiente através dos efluentes de indústrias químico-farmacêuticas e, principalmente, através de esgotos domésticos e criação de animais, visto que 25% a 75% dos fármacos são excretados em forma inalterada após passagem pelo Trato Gastrointestinal. Parcela significativa do consumo mundial dos antibióticos corresponde à classe das tetraciclinas, representando consumo humano de 23 kg/dia no Brasil, em 2007. Atualmente, há pesquisas de novas tetraciclinas que incorporam metais pesados (Hg, Cd, Re, Pt, Pd) às suas estruturas com o intuito de aumentar suas atividades bactericidas. As estações de tratamento de águas residuais convencionais não são capazes de degradar moléculas orgânicas complexas, diminuir a sua toxicidade e melhorar a sua biodegradabilidade. Por esta razão, as novas tecnologias, como, por exemplo, os processos oxidativos avançados, estão sendo desenvolvidos para lidar com esta demanda. Os objetivos deste trabalho são fazer uma revisão da literatura sobre os processos de obtenção de tetraciclinas, apresentar métodos de tratamento de seus resíduos e avaliar o seu impacto ambiental.

Over the past few decades, a high number of pharmaceuticals have been detected in surface, ground and drinking waters. This contamination comes from domestic sewage, livestock, hospitals and chemicalpharmaceutical industries. Typical examples of these pollutants are the fluoroquinolones -powerful antibiotics used in human and veterinary medicine. The presence of fluoroquinolones in the environment can pose a serious threat to the ecosystem and to human health due to their high consumption globally: in 1998, around 120 tons were produced. Even at low environmental concentrations, antibiotics stimulate bacterial resistance. The consequences of the presence of fluoroquinolones in the environment are not fully understood, but are known to be toxic to plants and aquatic organisms. Approximately 85% of the fluoroquinolones present in influents can be removed by conventional wastewater treatment plants, but the removed fraction is frequently accumulated in the sludge, which is sometimes used as fertilizer, representing an additional input route into the environment. The removal of fluoroquinolones by biological treatment is ineffective, and it is believed that only advanced oxidation technologies are able to destroy these emerging pollutants.Uniterms: Fluoroquinolones/waste/environmental impact. Fluoroquinolones/waste/environmental contamination. Environmental contamination. Advanced oxidation processes/wastewater treatment.Nas últimas décadas, um grande número de fármacos tem sido identificado em águas superficiais, subterrâneas e potáveis. Tal contaminação advém do esgoto doméstico, hospitais, criação de animais e das indústrias químico-farmacêuticas. Exemplos típicos desses poluentes são as fluoroquinolonaspotentes antibióticos empregados na medicina humana e veterinária. A presença de fluoroquinolonas no meio ambiente pode representar uma séria ameaça para o ecossistema e para a saúde humana devido ao alto consumo mundial: em 1998 foram produzidas, aproximadamente, 120 toneladas. Mesmo em baixas concentrações, antibióticos podem estimular a resistência bacteriana. As consequências da presença de fluoroquinolonas no ambiente não são completamente compreendidas, mas sabe-se que são tóxicas para plantas e organismos aquáticos. Aproximadamente 85% das fluoroquinolonas presentes em efluentes podem ser removidos em estações de tratamento de efluentes convencionais, porém a fração removida é frequentemente acumulada no lodo, muitas vezes usado como fertilizante, o que representa uma rota adicional de entrada desses compostos no ambiente. A remoção de fluoroquinolonas por meio de tratamento biológico não é eficiente, e acredita-se que somente as tecnologias de oxidação avançada sejam capazes de degradar esses poluentes emergentes.Uniterms: Fluorquinolonas/resíduos/impacto ambiental. Fluorquinolonas/resíduos/contaminação ambiental. Contaminação ambiental. Processos oxidativos avançados/tratamento de águas residuais.

The probiotic yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae var boulardii is widely used as a low cost and efficient adjuvant against gastrointestinal tract disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease and treatment of several types of diarrhea, both in humans and animals. S. boulardii exerts its protective mechanisms by binding and neutralizing enteric pathogens or their toxins, by reducing inflammation and by inducing the secretion of sIgA. Although several S. cerevisiae strains have proven probiotic potential in both humans and animals, only S. boulardii is currently licensed for use in humans. Recently, some researchers started using S. boulardii as heterologous protein expression systems. Combined with their probiotic activity, the use of these strains as prophylactic and therapeutic proteins carriers might result in a positive combined effort to fight specific diseases. Here, we provide an overview of the current use of S. cerevisiae strains as probiotics and their mechanisms of action. We also discuss their potential to produce molecules with biotherapeutic application and the advantages and hurdles of this approach. Finally, we suggest future directions and alternatives for which the combined effort of specific immunomodulatory effects of probiotic S. cerevisiae strains and ability to express desired foreign genes would find a practical application.