Inflammatory, Oxidative Stress, and Apoptosis Effects in Zebrafish Larvae after Rapid Exposure to a Commercial Glyphosate Formulation

Abstract

Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) are the most used herbicides in the world, carrying potentially adverse consequences to the environment and non-target species due to their massive and inadequate use. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of acute exposure to a commercial formulation of glyphosate, Roundup® Flex (RF), at environmentally relevant and higher concentrations in zebrafish larvae through the assessment of the inflammatory, oxidative stress and cell death response. Transgenic Tg(mpxGFP)i114 and wild-type (WT) zebrafish larvae (72 h post-fertilisation) were exposed to 1, 5, and 10 µg mL−1 of RF (based on the active ingredient concentration) for 4 h 30 min. A concentration of 2.5 µg mL−1 CuSO4 was used as a positive control. Copper sulphate exposure showed effectiveness in enhancing the inflammatory profile by increasing the number of neutrophils, nitric oxide (NO) levels, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and cell death. None of the RF concentrations tested showed changes in the number of neutrophils and NO. However, the concentration of 10 µg a.i. mL−1 was able to induce an increase in ROS levels and cell death. The activity of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx)), the biotransformation activity, the levels of reduced (GSH) and oxidised (GSSG) glutathione, lipid peroxidation (LPO), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) were similar among groups. Overall, the evidence may suggest toxicological effects are dependent on the concentration of RF, although at concentrations that are not routinely detected in the environment. Additional studies are needed to better understand the underlying molecular mechanisms of this formulation.

Cellular Response and Molecular Mechanism of Glyphosate Degradation by Chryseobacterium sp. Y16C

“…According to previous studies, glyphosate itself has certain toxic effects on organisms that affect the growth, metabolism, and reproduction of organisms. 3,7 Lanzarin et al 48 studied the effect of a commercial glyphosate formulation on zebrafish. The results showed that zebrafish exposure to 10 μg/mL glyphosate could induce increased ROS and trigger apoptosis in zebrafish larvae.…”

“…The physiological state, metabolic function and reproductive capacity of individual microbial cells play a decisive role in the effect of the pollutant degradation process. , Therefore, studying the state of individual microbial cells during the degradation process is conducive to further analysis of the mechanism of microbial degradation of pollutants. According to previous studies, glyphosate itself has certain toxic effects on organisms that affect the growth, metabolism, and reproduction of organisms. , Lanzarin et al studied the effect of a commercial glyphosate formulation on zebrafish. The results showed that zebrafish exposure to 10 μg/mL glyphosate could induce increased ROS and trigger apoptosis in zebrafish larvae.…”

Single-cell transcriptome analysis reveals liver injury induced by glyphosate in mice

“…Multiple researchers have shown that oxidative stress, inflammatory response, and lipid metabolism disorder were the most common pathogenic features of GLY-induced liver injury. The overproduction of ROS could alter the levels and activities of antioxidants including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) [75][76][77]. Oxidative stress can activate inflammatory reaction pathways leading to the production of proinflammatory factors (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, IFN-γ, TNF-α) [47,76,78,79].…”

Anti-Inflammatory Effects and Mechanisms of Dandelion in RAW264.7 Macrophages and Zebrafish Larvae

“…Furthermore, excessive generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), a key signaling molecule for defensive responses, can result in inflammatory responses and disease development ( Bjørn and Hasselbalch, 2015 ; Liu et al, 2018 ), and ROS can control the apoptotic process ( Walls et al, 2011 ). Stimulation of macrophages with LPS or zebrafish larvae with CuSO4 increases ROS production, increasing inflammation, whereas overproduction of inflammatory factors may cause excessive ROS production ( Bjørn and Hasselbalch, 2015 ; Lanzarin et al, 2021 ).…”