Stoimir Kolarevic

• PhD
• Principal Research Fellow at University of Belgrade

In this study early signs of deterioration of the ecosystem in the Boka Kotorska Bay were assessed by applying an active biomonitoring approach for the first time in coastal area of Montenegro. Gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata), commercially farmed in the Bay, was used as a bioindicator. Specimens were translocated from an aquaculture farm to more...

In response to the global rise in antibiotic resistance and the prevalence of bacterial biofilm-related infections, the antibacterial efficacy of methanolic, ethanolic, and aqueous extracts of 18 Lamiaceae plants from Serbia was evaluated. The total coumarins and triterpenes were detected spectrophotometrically, while a microdilution assay measured...

Within this study, the microbiological impact of wastewater on surface watercourses in the territory of the city of Belgrade was investigated. The presence of Escherichia coli in the analyzed samples indicates a significant impact of fecal contamination in the locations directly affected by wastewater. However, a negative impact on water quality wa...

Plant pathogenic strains of Pseudomonas syringae ( Psy ) spp. have been detected in nonagricultural habitats, including those associated with the water cycle. Their presence in aquatic systems allows dissemination over long distances, especially with irrigation practices. In May 2021, we sampled 15 sites along the Danube River Basin in Serbia to ga...

In this study a battery of bioassays, both in vivo (metals and metalloids concentrations, erythrocyte morphometry, comet assay, micronucleus assay, and histopathological analyses) on vimba bream Vimba vimba (L., 1758) and white bream Blicca bjoerkna (L., 1758), and in vitro (treatment of HepG2 cells with native water samples) was applied to assess...

One of the most severe threats to the Danube River course through Serbia is the direct discharge of untreated wastewater. In biomonitoring studies, faecal indicator bacteria are used to reveal the presence of untreated communal wastewater, while biomarker responses in indigenous biota serve as a useful indicator of their harmful potential. The obje...

Vibrio cholerae are natural inhabitants of specific aquatic environments. Strains not belonging to serogroups O1 and O139 are usually unable to produce cholera toxin and cause cholera. However, non‐toxigenic V. cholerae (NTVC) are able to cause a variety of mild‐to‐severe human infections (via seafood consumption or recreational activities). The nu...

Lake Ludaš is a protected nature reserve in Serbia that has been the focus of scientific interest, due to perpetual water quality deterioration that has led to consistent cyanobacterial blooms for almost five decades. To describe the possible effects of cyanotoxins on fish (Carrasius gibelio) inhabiting Lake Ludaš, several examinations were perform...

Environmental studies which aim to assess the ecological impact of chemical and other types of pollution should employ a complex weight-of-evidence approach with multiple lines of evidence (LoEs). This study focused on in situ genotoxicological methods such as the comet and micronucleus assays and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis as one...

The presence of SARS-CoV-2 in untreated sewage has been confirmed in many countries but its incidence and infection risk in contaminated waters is poorly understood. The River Thames in the UK receives untreated sewage from 57 Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), with many discharging dozens of times per year. This study investigated if such discharges...

In this study, the possible ‘vector effect’ within the exposure of Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) to polystyrene microplastics with adsorbed fluoranthene was investigated by applying the multibiomarker approach. The major focus was placed on genotoxicological endpoints as to our knowledge there are no literature data on the genot...

Excessive fluoride (F⁻) levels in the environment could induce different pathological changes, including comorbidities in reproductive functions. Hence, the aim of the present in vivo study was to explore F⁻ subacute toxicity mechanisms via Benchmark dose (BMD) methodology on rat's testicles. The experiment was conducted on thirty male Wistar rats...

Background Although still considered a safer alternative to classical cigarettes, growing body of work points to harmful effects of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) affecting a range of cellular processes. The biological effect of e-cigarettes needs to be investigated in more detail considering their widespread use. Methods In this study, we t...

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) surveillance of COVID-19 and other future outbreaks is a challenge for developing countries as most households are not connected to a sewerage system. In December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in the Danube River at a site severely affected by wastewaters from Belgrade. Rivers are much more complex systems th...

Invasive alien fish species represent one of the greatest threats to the biodiversity and ecological status of freshwater ecosystems. Within their management, their application as bioindicators of pollution in monitoring programs should be considered. The aim of this study was to examine the use of black bullhead Ameiurus melas (Rafinesque, 1820),...

Biological activity of 2-tert-butyl-1,4-benzoquinone (TBQ) and its deriva-tives: 2-tert-butyl-5-(isopropylthio)-1,4-benzoquinone, 2-tert-butyl-5-(propylthio)-1,4-benzoquinone, 2-tert-butyl-5,6-(ethylenedithio)-1,4-benzoquinone, 2-tert-butyl- -5-(phenylthio)-1,4-benzoquinone and 2-tert-butyl-6-(phenylthio)-1,4-benzoqu-inone were tested for their ant...

During extreme hydrological conditions such as flood events, sediments and alluvial soils may become re-suspended. As a consequence, the concentration of solid particulate matter (SPM) in the water column increases. As sediments represent a sink for the contaminants, when such perturbation occurs, the toxic substances may be re-dissolved into the w...

The presence of SARS-CoV-2 in untreated sewage has been confirmed in many countries but its incidence and infection risk in contaminated freshwaters is still poorly understood. The River Thames in the UK receives untreated sewage from 57 Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), with many discharging dozens of times per year. We investigated if such dischar...

This study was designed to evaluate the genoprotective, antigenotoxic, as well as antitumor potential of methanolic, ethanolic, and aqueous extracts of Melissa officinalis, Mentha × piperita, Ocimum basilicum, Rosmarinus officinalis, Salvia officinalis, and Satureja montana (Lamiaceae), in different model systems. The polyphenols in these extracts...

This study was conducted on the Danube River locality Višnjica, exposed to the discharge of the largest wastewater collector in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade. Concentrations of metals and metalloids (Al, Fe, Cr, As, Sr, Mn, Cd, Zn, Mo, Cu, Li, Ni, B, Co, Pb, and Ba) and histopathological alterations were investigated in different tissues of common bre...

Salvia officinalis (sage) and Salvia rosmarinus (previously Rosmarinus officinalis, rosemary) are commonly used medicinal plants from the Lamiaceae family, with strong antioxidant abilities. This study was carried out in several stages to comprehensively and gradually explore the antioxidant and antitumor mechanisms of their ethanolic extracts usin...

In Serbia less than 13 % of collected municipal wastewaters is being treated before their release in the environment. This includes all municipal wastewater discharges from Belgrade (capital city of Serbia; population 1,700,000). Previous research has identified the impacts of raw wastewater discharges from Belgrade on the Danube River, and this st...

The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater was first reported in March 2020. Over the subsequent months, the potential for wastewater surveillance to contribute to COVID-19 mitigation programmes has been the focus of intense national and international research activities, gaining the attention of policy makers and the public. As a new application...

This research was aimed to assess the potential of Glechoma hederacea, Hyssopus officinalis, Lavandula angustifolia, Leonurus cardiaca, Marrubium vulgare and Sideritis scardica (Lamiaceae) methanolic, ethanolic and aqueous extracts against the damaging effects of oxidative stress using different experimental models. The chemical characterization wa...

The aims of this study were to: (i) examine the toxic effects of sodium fluoride (NaF) in blood, liver, spleen, and brain cells of Wistar rats after the subacute exposure; (ii) explore the potential protective properties of selenium (Se) against fluoride toxicity after the simultaneous administration. Twenty male Wistar rats, eight weeks old, weigh...

The main objective of this research was to evaluate the impact of methanolic, ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Origanum majorana L., Origanum vulgare L., Teucrium chamaedrys L., Teucrium montanum L., Thymus serpyllum L. and Thymus vulgaris L. (Lamiaceae) on the effects of free radicals using different model systems. The extracts were characterized...

In this study, few different evaluation concepts were used for the assessment of genotoxic potential at the stretch of the Danube River identified as a significant hotspot of pollution originated through the untreated wastewaters. Three sites were chosen: one site upstream of the wastewater outlet in Novi Sad (Serbia), one at the outlet of wastewat...

This study deals with bleak (Alburnus alburnus) sensitivity in detecting of the wastewater related pressure in large lowland rivers. The major objective was to investigate if the response measured in bleak should be linked to a certain stretch of the river and characterised as ”stretch specific”, or it should be linked to the sampling site and char...

Montenegrin surface water and groundwater are important for the Balkan Peninsula since they are connected by the transboundary Dinaric Karst Aquifer System with the waters of additional five countries. The pollution from the surface water can rapidly infiltrate in aquifer and endanger this sensible ecosystem and the health of humans through drinkin...

This study was carried out to identify the relations between macroinvertebrate communities and river basin specific (RBS) pollutants in the Danube River. The investigation was performed at 68 sites along 2,500 km of the Danube. Forward selection (FS), canonical correspondence analyses (CCA), the Spearman correlation coefficient (SC) and BIO-ENV ana...

The literature data on the microbiological water quality of the surface and groundwaters in Montenegro is very scarce. Therefore, this chapter aims to provide an insight in the microbiological water quality of rivers in Montenegro by compiling the data obtained in period 2009–2018 in national monitoring program and the data collected within the Mon...

Due to the increasing industrialization, metals are discharged into all spheres of the environment, in particular, in river courses, which leads to the need for constant monitoring. Metals do not degrade into harmless end products; they are very persistent and have high potential for accumulation in biota. Metals in the fish body are accumulated in...

In this study, we compared the compositions, antimicrobial and potential antioxidant activities of essential oils of two Thymus endemic, wild-growing species – T. malyi Ronninger and T. lykae Degen et Jav. No information about its composition and biological activities of oils has been reported to the present day. Forty three compounds were identifi...

The major objective of this study was to investigate the impact of wastewaters on the level of genotoxicity and the possible reflection of genotoxicity on the genetic variability in chub (Squalius cephalus) collected from the sites under different pollution pressures along the Sava River. To emphasize the impact of wastewaters, this study was carri...

Tert-butylquinone (TBQ) and its alkylamino and aralkylamino derivatives are of high interest as a potential antitumor agent. Therefore, it was necessary to investigate if the compounds exert undesirable activities such as interaction with DNA molecule which could result in negative side effects in the case of their use in the diseases treatment. Th...

The major objective of this study was to investigate the impact of wastewaters on the level of genotoxicity and the possible reflection of genotoxicity on the genetic variability in chub (Squalius cephalus) collected from the sites under different pollution pressures along the Sava River. To emphasize the impact of wastewaters, this study was carri...

The aim of this study was to examine chemical composition, as well as antineurodegenerative, antioxidant and antibacterial activity of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Origanum majorana L. (Lamiaceae) originating from Serbia, Greece, Egypt and Libya. Total phenolics and flavonoids, antioxidant activities, and acetylcholinesterase and tyrosinase in...

The composition of the essential oil (EO) obtained by hydrodistillation from the leaves of Thymus capitatus Hoff. et Link. growing wild in Sythonia (Greece) was analysed by GC-FID, GC-MS and quantitative ¹H NMR spectroscopy. Thirty nine compounds were identified, representing approximately 99.0% of the oil. Major component determined by GC-FID was...

In this study, mutagenic and genotoxic potential of anti-tumor compounds avarol, avarone, and its derivatives 3′-methoxyavarone, 4′-(methylamino)avarone and 3′-(methylamino)avarone was evaluated and compared to cytostatics commonly used in chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil, etoposid, and cisplatin). Mutagenic potential of selected hydroquinone and quino...

The polyphenolic content and biological activities of dichloromethane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and ethanol extracts of Cretan Salvia pomifera L. (Lamiaceae) were analysed. The ethyl acetate extract showed the highest content of total phenolics and total flavonoids. The ethanol extract exhibited the highest activity in the DPPH and FRAP assays, w...

Biomarkers attract increasing attention in environmental studies, as a tool for detection of exposure and effects of pollution, from both natural and anthropogenic sources. This study aims to assess the impact of multiple stressors during distinctive seasons, covering also extreme hydrological events (extensive flooding in the mid May 2014), on dif...

The Velika Morava River is the greatest national Serbian river and the significant tributary of the Danube River. The major problems in the Velika Morava River Basin (VMRB) represent untreated industrial and municipal wastewaters. In this study, the level of genotoxic potential at the sites along the VMRB was evaluated by parallel in vitro and in s...

The microbial faecal pollution of rivers has wide-ranging impacts on a variety of human activities that rely on appropriate river water quality. Thus, detailed knowledge of the extent and origin of microbial faecal pollution is crucial for watershed management activities to maintain safe water use. In this study, the microbial faecal pollution leve...

The success of antioxidant therapy in hyperthyroidism implies that disease is mediated by oxidative stress, which is known as one of the causing agents of ageing, degenerative diseases, and cancer. The main objective of our study was to determine possible protective effects of methanolic extract of N. rtanjensis in triiodothyronine (T 3)-induced DN...

animal bodies may, under the certain circumstances, exhibit deleterious effects on genetic material, therefore acting as endogenous mutagenic agents. Since hormones represent one of the best studied endogenous mutagens, some research focused on the possible role of thyroid hormone in mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. Indeed, thyroid hormones accelera...

This study examines the use of freshwater bream (Abramis brama) as a sentinel organism for genotoxicity assessment of the Danube River using the comet assay. Sampling of bream was performed during February, April, August, and November in 2014 to assess seasonal variation of DNA damage level as a response to genotoxicity in annual cycle. Additionall...

This study gives an insight in sensitivity of heart rate (Hr) of Mytilus galloprovincialis as a physiological biomarker. Impact of tributyltin chloride (TBT-Cl) on Hr was studied in parallel with evaluation of mutagenic, genotoxic and cytotoxic potential of TBT-Cl (10, 100 and 1000 μg/L) within 96 h treatment in static conditions. Mutagenic potenti...

In this study we have performed a comprehensive genotoxicological survey along the 900 rkm of the Sava River. In total, 12 sites were chosen in compliance with the goals of GLOBAQUA project dealing with the effects of multiple stressors on biodiversity and functioning of aquatic ecosystems. The genotoxic potential was assessed using a complex batte...

Numbers of E. coli (MPN/100 mL) as an indication of faecal contamination Red lines represent borders between the classes of water quality [26]: I?slight, II?moderate, III?critical, IV?strong, V?excessive pollution. (TIF)

The current study extends our previous findings concerning the sensitivity of Lymantria dispar larvae to cadmium in light of ecotoxicological risk assessment. Here we report the results of the comet assay performed for the first time on this species. We examined the chronic effects of two cadmium concentrations (50 and 100 μg Cd/g dry food) on DNA...

Coupled measurements of nitrate (NO3−), nitrogen (N), and oxygen (O) isotopic composition (δ15NNO3 and δ18ONO3) were used to investigate the sources and processes of N cycling, while the microbial source tracking (MST) method was used to identify microbiological pollution in the surface water of the Sava River Basin (SRB) in autumn in 2014 and 2015...

The impact of etoposide (ETO), vincristine sulfate (VIN) and cisplatin (CP) on the DNA damage level was studied in vivo and in vitro on hemocytes of freshwater mussels Unio sp. (U. pictorum/U. tumidus) using the alkaline comet assay. For in vivo experiments, the mussels were exposed in static system for 72 h. For in vitro experiments, treatment was...

In this study a comprehensive genotoxicological survey throughout the upper and middle stretches of Adige river basin is presented. The study was carried out at 7 sites located along the Adige main course and one the most significant tributaries, the Noce creek, both presenting different levels of pollution pressure. To give an insight into the nat...

In this study we investigated the influence of preparation of the bacterial inoculum for a microdilution susceptibility test, e.g., the effect of its optical density, on assessment of the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC). The approach employed in the majority of microdilution susceptibility studies is use of the same optical density for prep...

Metal coordination compounds have an important role in the development of novel drugs. Using the resazurin microtitration assay we assessed the cytotoxicity and antiviral activity of the ligand 2-(diphenylphosphino)benzaldehyde 1-adamantoylhydrazone and its Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes. Cytotoxicity was tested in A549 human lung adenocarcinoma epith...

Ephoron virgo (Olivier, 1791) is an European burrowing filter-feeding mayfly species. Once common in large rivers, in XX century it became rare due to increased negative anthropogenic influences. In Serbia there was only one recent report of its presence, from the Danube River (Iron Gate area). The aim of this paper is to report on the first findin...

Genotoxicity monitoring of the lower stretch of the Sava River was performed by the combined approach of in situ assessment of genotoxicity and active biomonitoring of two species of mussels from the Unionidae family, Unio pictorum and Unio tumidus. Genotoxic response was studied using comet assay on hemocytes. For active biomonitoring, the mussels...

Data on the microbiological quality of the freshwater systems under the anthropogenic influence, such as the Sava River, are of the major importance for the water resource management. Furthermore, analyses of the microbial quality of fish meat provide information of the fish as a valuable food resource from the investigated river basin. The health...

Genotoxicity of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), etoposide (ET) and cadmium chloride (CdCl₂) was evaluated in Limnodrilus udekemianus, cosmopolitan tubificid species, by alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay). Groups of 50 individuals were exposed in vivo in water-only short-term (96h) tests to 5-FU (0.004, 0.04, 0.4, 4 and 40 µM), ET (0.004....

The effects of ex situ exposure of Mytilus galloprovincialis to Superdispersant-25 (S-25), diesel oil and dispersed diesel oil mixtures were studied by the impact on level of DNA damage in haemocytes (comet assay) and the cardiac activity patterns of mussels. Specimens were exposed for 72 h in a static system to diesel oil (100 μL/L and 1 mL/L), S-...

Freshwater bodies receive high levels of different toxicants. Since fish are typically situated at the top of aquatic food chains, they have a good potential to be used as indicators of water pollution. Assessment of the presence of pollutants and their toxicity can be efficiently performed by the combined use of analytical chemistry, bioassays and...

The non-native freshwater magnificent bryozoan Pectinatella magnifica (Leidy, 1851) was firstly recorded in the summer of 2011 from the Danube River (side arm Ráckevei-Soroksári Duna downstream from Budapest). Despite intensive research along the length of the Danube River between Budapest and Belgrade in 2001-2013, it has not been detected to exp...

The impact of in vivo and in vitro exposure to anticancer drug 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) on the level of DNA damage was evaluated using comet assay on haemocytes of freshwater mussels Unio pictorum and Unio tumidus. For the in vivo experiment, the groups of 5 mussels per concentration were exposed for 72 h to 5-FU (0.04, 0.4, 4, 40 and 100 μM) with 0.4...

Adrenaline is a neurotransmitter and hormone that plays an important role in physiological regulatory mechanisms. The objective of this study was to assess primary DNA damage in isolated human lymphocytes exposed to adrenaline using the in vitro comet assay. Dose-response of human lymphocytes was determined at concentration range of adrenaline from...

Genotoxic response of freshwater mussels U. tumidus and U. pictorum to environmental stress was studied using comet assay on hemocytes and gill cells. The mussels were acclimated to controlled laboratory conditions for 10 days, and then exposed at 4 sites in the Sava and Danube rivers in the area of the city of Belgrade. Samples of each species wer...

This study was undertaken to investigate the potential of the freshwater mussel Sinanodonta woodiana for detection of genotoxic pollution of the environment. Study was performed at two sites in the Velika Morava River, from May 2010 to February 2011. The alkaline comet assay on haemocytes was used, and the olive tail moment (OTM) was chosen as a me...

The genotoxic potential of waters in six rivers and reservoirs from Serbia was monitored in different tissues of chub (Squalius cephalus L. 1758) with the alkaline comet assay. The comet assay, or single-cell gel electrophoresis, has a wide application as a simple and sensitive method for evaluating DNA damage in fish exposed to various xenobiotics...

The aim of this study was to analyze 16 trace elements (Al, As, B, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Li, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sr, and Zn) in different barbel (Barbus barbus) tissues and to detect the presence of genotoxic effects in erythrocytes with the alkaline comet assay. Barbel specimens were collected in the Danube river near Belgrade, Serbia, where the dis...

In this study, we investigated the level of sanitary pollution and organic contamination of the Velika Morava River, the largest river in central Serbia. Samples of water for microbiological analysis were collected at 5 sites, monthly, from April 2010 to February 2011. Sanitary analysis, i.e. enumeration of total and fecal coliforms and intestinal...

The protective effect of probiotic bacteria against cadmium (Cd)-induced genotoxicity was studied in rat he-patocytes in vivo and in vitro. Male Wistar rats, Rattus norvegicus, were treated for five weeks with (i) CdCl 2 (70 ppm in the drinking water), (ii) a mixture of lyophilized probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus rhamnosus, L. acidophilus and Bifi...

Microbiological examination of river water is obligatory for use-related purposes such as drinking water production, irrigation and recreation. To evaluate the present state of water quality, samples of water and sediment taken from three sites on the River Tisa were analyzed. By applying standard procedures for an assessment of sanitary quality an...

The aim of this work was to examine the impact of urban wastewaters on the water quality of the Danube River in Serbia. Samples of water and sediments for microbiological analysis and genotoxicity monitoring were collected from 6 sites during spring and/or autumn 2010. Sanitary analysis, i.e. enumeration of total and fecal coliforms and intestinal...