Cytotoxicity of the association of pesticides Roundup Transorb® and Furadan 350 SC® on the zebrafish cell line, ZF-L

- Pesticides cytotoxicity was analyzed considering three cellular targets.
- Lysosome stability exhibited the highest sensitivity for both separate and combined pesticides.
- Both pesticides show an inhibitory effect on the activity of xenobiotic extrusion.
- There was a negative correlation between cytotoxicity and P-gp activity.
- The insecticide Furadan, and the mixture Furadan plus Roundup, increase the expression of P-glycoproteins (P-gps).

The present study aimed to ascertain the cytotoxicity of pesticides commonly used in rice cultivation, through in vitro assays employing the ZF-L cell line. The in vitro analyses investigated three cellular targets (cell membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity and lysosomal stability) in cells exposed to concentrations of Roundup Transorb® (67.7 μg L−1, 135.4 μg L−1 and 270.8 μg L−1), Furadan 350 SC® (0.1 μg L−1, 0.05 μg L−1 and 0.02 μg L−1). We also tested these products in combination. We analyzed the defensive capacity of the cells by measuring the activity of xenobiotic extruder proteins, as well as the expression of these same proteins. Cytotoxic effects of both pesticides were observed individually, as well as with the mixture of both products; including an inhibitory effect on the activity of xenobiotic extrusion. When exposed to the insecticide Furadan, and also the mixture of Furadan and Roundup, there was an increase in the expression of P glycoproteins (P-gps). There was also a negative correlation with cytotoxicity, mainly exhibited by mitochondrial activity and lysosomal integrity, but also with respect to the activity of P-gps. We observed that concentrations below those allowed by law were toxic regarding all parameters tested in this study, with the exception of mitochondrial function. Taken together, our results suggest that toxicity may be due to the surfactants present in the commercial formulations.