Search

Phthalates are endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) used as plasticizers in a wide array of daily-use products, from flooring and automotive parts to medical devices and are even present in the children´s toys. Since these compounds are not covalently bound other molecules, they leach from these synthetic products, causing a high level of human exposure to them. EDCs exert several endocrine effects, most typically, reduced biosynthesis of the male hormone, testosterone and disturbances in estrogen, androgen, PPAR-gamma and AhR that control complex immunoendocrine regulatory networks. Besides impacting the developmental processes and long-term adverse effects, since cells of the immune system express endocrine receptors, and synthetize and respond to several hormones and other endocrine ligands, phthalates also cause dysregulation of immune system.

Calypso (thiacloprid), Poncho (clothianidin), Gaucho (imidacloprid), and Jade (imidacloprid) are commercial neonicotinoid insecticides, a new class of agrochemicals in México. However, genotoxic and cytotoxic studies have not been performed. In the present study, human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) were exposed in vitro to different concentrations of the four insecticides. The genotoxic and cytotoxic effects were evaluated using the alkaline comet and trypan blue dye exclusion assays. DNA damage was evaluated using two genotoxicity parameters: tail length and comet frequency. Exposure to 9.5×10-6 to 5.7×10-5 M Jade; 2.8×10-4 to 1.7×10-3 M Gaucho; 0.6×10-1 to 1.4×10-1 M Calypso; 1.2×10-1 to 9.5×10-1 M Poncho for 2 h induced a significant increase DNA damage with a concentration-dependent relationship. Jade was the most genotoxic of the four insecticides studied. Cytotoxicity was observed in cells exposed to 18×10-3 M Jade, 2.0×10-3 M Gaucho, 2.0×10-1 M Calypso, 1.07 M Poncho, and cell death occurred at 30×10-3 M Jade, 3.3×10-3 M Gaucho, 2.8×10-1 M Calypso, and 1.42 M Poncho. This study provides the first report of genotoxic and cytotoxic effects in PBL following in vitro exposure to commercial neonicotinoid insecticides.