Individual and joint effects of glyphosate and cypermethrin formulations on two human cell lines

Abstract

The final effect of pesticides and their mixtures on living organisms is determined by the particular toxicodynamics of the system. Oxidative stress is one of the most studied molecular mechanisms of toxicity due to increasing evidence supporting its association with the toxic effects of different agrochemicals. In the present study we evaluated the presence of redox balance alterations in the cell lines HEp-2 and A549 exposed to formulations of glyphosate (March®) and cypermethrin (Superfina®) used separately or in combination (in a proportion equivalent to that used in soybean fields). We determined the activity of catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione S-transferase, intracellular GSH content, content of oxidized proteins (as measure of damage) and intracellular ROS content in both cell lines at two different mixture concentrations. Additionally, we evaluated the presence of statistical interaction to determine if the effect of the mixture on the parameters evaluated was additive, synergistic, or antagonistic. For this purpose, we used the Combination Subthresholding, Cooperative Effect and Statistical Linear Interaction approaches. We found that the interaction between pesticides depended on their concentration and the cellular models studied.

Keywords: Agrochemicals; Cell line; Joint toxicity; Oxidative stress.