RESUMO
Endosulfan is a broad spectrum organochlorine pesticide that is still widely in use in many developing countries. Following application, endosulfan can get to watercourses through surface runoff from agricultural fields and disturb the non-target aquatic animals including freshwater fish species. Given that the activity of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is one of the most recurrently used biomarkers of exposure to pesticides and there are controversial results concerning the effects of endosulfan exposure and AChE activity in fish, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of endosulfan in brain AChE activity and its gene expression pattern using adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) as an animal model. Moreover, we have analyzed the effects of endosulfan exposure in different parameters of zebrafish swimming activity and in long-term memory formation. After 96 h of exposition, fish in the 2.4 µg endosulfan/L group presented a significant decrease in AChE activity (9.44 ± 1.038 µmol SCh h(-1) mg protein(-1); p=0.0205) when compared to the control group (15.87 ± 1.768 µmol SCh h(-1) mg protein(-1); p=0.0205) which corresponds to approximately 40%. The down-regulation of brain AChE activity is not directly related with the transcriptional control as demonstrated by the RT-qPCR analysis. Our results reinforce AChE activity inhibition as a pathway of endosulfan-induced toxicity in brain of fish species. In addition, exposure to 2.4 µg endosulfan/L during 96 h impaired all exploratory parameters evaluated: decreased line crossings (≈21%, 273.7 ± 28.12 number of line crossings compared to the control group 344.6 ± 21.30, p=0.0483), traveled distance (≈20%, 23.44 ± 2.127 m compared to the control group 29.39 ± 1.585, p=0.0281), mean speed (≈25%, 0.03 ± 0.003 m/s compared to the control group 0.04 ± 0.002, p=0.0275) and body turn angle (≈21%, 69,940 ± 4871 absolute turn angle compared to the control group 88,010 ± 4560, p=0.0114). These results suggest that endosulfan exposure significantly impairs animals' exploratory performance, and potentially compromises their ecological and interspecific interaction. Our results also showed that the same endosulfan exposure did not compromise animals' performance in the inhibitory avoidance apparatus. These findings provide further evidence of the deleterious effects of endosulfan exposure in the nervous system.
Assuntos
Acetilcolinesterase/metabolismo , Comportamento Animal/efeitos dos fármacos , Encéfalo/efeitos dos fármacos , Inibidores da Colinesterase/toxicidade , Endossulfano/toxicidade , Inseticidas/toxicidade , Atividade Motora/efeitos dos fármacos , Natação , Poluentes Químicos da Água/toxicidade , Peixe-Zebra/metabolismo , Acetilcolinesterase/genética , Animais , Encéfalo/enzimologia , Encéfalo/fisiopatologia , Comportamento Exploratório/efeitos dos fármacos , Feminino , Regulação Enzimológica da Expressão Gênica/efeitos dos fármacos , Masculino , Memória/efeitos dos fármacos , RNA Mensageiro/metabolismo , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
Pesticides have been considered potential chemical mutagens and various agrochemical ingredients possess mutagenic properties. Biomonitoring provides a useful tool to estimate the genetic risk from exposure to a complex mixture of chemicals. In general genetic damage associated with pesticides occurs in human populations subject to high exposure levels due to intensive use, misuse or failure of control measures. Few studies have been carried out using the micronucleus (MN) analysis in buccal cells of farm workers and, from the available data, only one has found a positive relationship. Micronuclei were analyzed in 29 Brazilian workers exposed to pesticides in soybean fields and in 37 non-exposed individuals. The results obtained indicate that the mean number of cells with MN in the exposed group (3.55+/-2.13) was significantly higher than in the control group (1.78+/-1.23). The number of cells with MN was not influenced by age, smoking habit, smoking time, number of cigarettes/day, alcohol consumption and years of exposure to pesticides. The genotoxic potential of the pesticides used in soybean fields may explain the detectable increase of cells with MN in exposed workers.