| Search |
| |
|
|
| UGA News Bureau |
|
|
Top
News Stories
|
| In
the News
|
| Master
Calendar
|
| Advisories
|
| All
News Releases
|
Columns
Faculty/staff newspaper |
| News
from Schools & Colleges |
| Media Resources |
| Campaign and election experts
|
| Back to School Features
|
| Media
contacts
|
| Experts
directory
|
| e-News |
| Put
UGA's top stories on your site |
| Special Reports |
Latest budget information
Arch News - August 7, 2009
Response to Board of Regents request for UGA budget plan
Arch News - July 22, 2009
Budget update
University of Georgia President Michael F. Adams gave a budget update to the UGA community during the April 23 meeting of the University Council at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel. A video presentation and talking points are available for viewing.
Arch News - April 22, 2009
Upcoming budget presentation
Arch News - April 10, 2009
Status of the FY10 state budget
UGA president provides budget update
University of Georgia President Michael F. Adams gave members of University Council an update on UGA’s budget Thursday, Dec. 4 in wake of recent actions by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents to help meet an anticipated directive from state officials to increase the budget cut to 8 percent from the current 6 percent.
View December 4, 2008 Budget Update
Public forum on University Budget
On Wednesday, Sept. 17, President Michael F. Adams and other senior university officials delivered a presentation about the impact of current economic challenges and responded to questions from the audience. Links to archived video of the first budget forum on Sept. 5.
View September 1, 2008 forum online →
View September 5, 2008 forum online →
President's talking points [pdf] →
UGA Fiscal Update [ppt] →
|
|
Information on the April 25 off-campus shooting
|
| Information on the national outbreak of H1N1 virus (commonly known as swine flu) |
| President's
speeches |
| UGA's
Master Plan |
| The
UGA Century |
40th
Anniversary of
UGA's Desegregation |
| UGA
Responds: 9/11 |
| Featured
Research |
| Commencement
Addresses |
| ARCHE Reports |
University System of Georgia
news publications |
| Legislative
Updates |
| The
System Supplement |
| Value-Added USG Serves Georgia |
| A Worthy Investment |
| UGA Open Records |
| Request procedure, form and FAQs |
| The Office of the Attorney General of Georgia |
| The Georgia Secretary of State Open Records |
| The Georgia First Amendment Foundation |
| Contact UGA Open Records Manager |
|
Antidepressants delay fish, frog development say UGA researchers
WRITER: Cat Holmes, 706/542-8960, clholmes@uga.edu
CONTACT: Marsha Black, 706/542-0998, mblack@uga.edu
Oct 31, 2003, 13:43
Email this article
Printer friendly page
|
ATHENS, Ga. – Researchers at the University of Georgia have found that low-level exposure to a common class of antidepressants found in streams and ponds delays both development in fish and metamorphosis in frogs.
The scientists are studying toxicity of a widely used group of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
The study has important environmental implications because some of these widely prescribed drugs, which include Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and Celexa, have been found in low concentrations in surface water, particularly wastewater.
“While these compounds are not acutely toxic at concentrations detected in the environment, our longer term studies indicate delayed development (in fish) and delayed metamorphosis (in frogs),” said UGA aquatic toxicologist Marsha Black who led the study.
The researchers found that low concentrations of fluoxetine (Prozac), the most commonly prescribed SSRI, significantly slowed development in Gambusia, or mosquitofish, which are often used to study toxicity on aquatic organisms.
“We found that male sexual development slowed by two to four weeks,” said Ted Henry, a UGA researcher who also worked on the project.
When the fish were around 80-85 days old, he said, the sexual maturity of those exposed to low levels of fluoxetine was significantly delayed. However, by the end of the study, when the fish were 145 days old, the same fish had caught up developmentally with the unexposed fish.
“We’re scratching our heads right now as to exactly what this means,” Black said. “But we know that in water, timing is everything. Reproduction for some species is timed to coincide with algae blooms for example. And possibly if sexual development is delayed, timing of reproduction could be affected and you could see some population impact.”
For the next phase of the study, the researchers will more closely examine the reproductive tissue of the fish affected by fluoxetine. Are they able to reproduce? Is there a reduction in the number of embryos? Or is there no ultimate effect? “These are some of the questions we’d like to answer,” Black said. “There are still a lot of unanswered questions.”
The researchers also found that metamorphosis in frogs exposed to low levels of fluoxetine took longer than usual.
For frogs, particularly the land-based frogs of North America, such a delay could be a matter of life and death, Black said, because frog eggs are often laid in temporary water beds – ephemeral ponds and wetlands that dry up.
“If the tadpoles have not developed and undergone metamorphosis by the time the water has evaporated, they’ll dessicate with the ponds,” Black said.
The researchers strongly suspect that results implicate a disruption of thyroid function and will carry out further research this spring to confirm or deny their suspicions.
“We know that the thyroid levels peak with metamorphic climax, when the legs and arms form and the tail resorbs” Black said. “We believe that fluoxetine inhibits the thyroid so we’re measuring the thyroid hormone levels next.”
The number of prescriptions for SSRIs has exploded since Prozac first came on the market 15 years ago. SSRIs are most often prescribed for depression, but are also used to treat anxiety, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, and social phobia.
Because they are prescribed for chronic conditions, people take them for months or years, increasing the likelihood of build-up in surface water, Black said.
A recent study by Baylor toxicologist Bryan Brooks found traces of fluoxetine in the tissue of bluegills in a Texas creek fed by discharges from a wastewater treatment plant.
“Treated municipal drinking water should be fine, but [pharmaceuticals like SSRIs] may not be filtered out of wastewater,” Black said. “We should be putting a high priority on implementing technologies that remove them and other pharmaceuticals from municipal wastewater discharges.”
The findings of the UGA study will be presented at the 24th Annual Meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicity and Chemistry next month.
Top of Page
|
|
