Bisphenol A, bisphenol S, bisphenol F and bisphenol AF induce different oxidative stress and damage in human red blood cells (in vitro study)

•Effect of BPA, BPS, BPF and BPAF on antioxidative system in human erythrocytes was studied.•BPA and its analogs increased ROS level and induced lipid peroxidation.•BPA and its analogs decreased GSH level and changed SOD, GSH-Px and CAT activities.•BPAF was shown to exhibit the strongest oxidative potential in red blood cells.•BPS showed significantly smaller oxidative changes in comparison to BPA.

Bisphenol A (BPA) and its analogs are widely used in the production of various everyday use products, which leads to a common exposure of humans to these substances. The effect of bisphenols on oxidative stress parameters has not been described in detail in non-nucleated cells, therefore, we have decided to evaluate the impact of BPA and its analogs, i.e. bisphenol S (BPS), bisphenol F (BPF) and bisphenol AF (BPAF) on reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, lipid peroxidation, glutathione (GSH) level and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in human erythrocytes.The erythrocytes were incubated with the compounds studied in the concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 500 μg/ml for 1, 4 or 24 h. It has been found that bisphenols enhanced ROS (including •OH) formation, depleted GSH level, increased lipid peroxidation and changed the activities of SOD, CAT and GSH-Px. It has been noted that the strongest alterations in ROS formation, lipid peroxidation and the activity of antioxidant enzymes were induced by BPAF, which changed CAT and SOD activity even at 0.5 μg/ml. It has also been shown that BPA caused the strongest changes in GSH level, while BPS, which is the main BPA substituent in the manufacture did not alter most parameters studied.