Carbamazepine

Carbamazepine (CBZ) is a member of the iminostilbene family, and it possesses a carbonyl group that is essential for its antiepileptic activity. It has been demonstrated and is widely accepted that CBZ is effective in the control of epileptic crises; unfortunately, there is scattered information concerning whether CBZ can aid in the sleep disorders produced by these crises. Chapter One evaluates the effect of the administration of CBZ on the sleep patterns in a model of epilepsy induced by KA and its pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic correlation. Chapter Two discusses the use of carbamazepine in freediving. Carbamazepine produces the protective effect of hypoxia and prolongs latency for the development of convulsions and death. Chapter Three is a review of current reports on the presence of carbamazepine in the environment, complemented with a general overview of typical (usually low) efficiencies with which conventional wastewater treatment plants are capable of removing carbamazepine from domestic wastewaters. CBZ is hardly biodegraded (the removal efficiency is <10%) through the conventional activated sludge process and the white-rot fungus (WRF) is reported the only microorganism to degrade it efficiently. The final chapter aims to enhance the removal performance of WRF reactor toward CBZ under non-sterile conditions during long-term operation.