Glyphosate exposure impairs motor behavior and b-catenin expression in juvenile rats

FORNERIS, PAULA; LUNA, SEBASTIAN; ROSSO SILVANA

Congreso; XXXVI Reunion Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigaciones en Neurociencias; 2021

Sociedad Argentina de Investigaciones en Neurociencias (SAN)

Glyphosate is the active ingredient of the most widely used herbicides in the world. Even though, numerous studies demonstrate the effects of Glyphosate based herbicide on developing mammals, the use of these formulations keeps expanding. The nervous system is highly affected by the exposure to these compounds. On this context, we study the effects of glyphosate exposure on brain development and maturation in rats by in vivo and in vitro assays.We used the rotarod test to evaluate motor coordination and balance in juvenile rats. Our results indicate that glyphosate treatment caused a deficiency in these motor skills compared to control groups. Taken in account previous studies, we then analyzed the β-catenin expression in different brain regions such as: frontal cortex, dorsal striatum and cerebellum by Western Blot. Thus, β-catenin is a crucial component of the Wnt-canonical signaling pathway playing an important role in central nervous system development and functioning. Our results show that Glyphosate exposure leads to changes in the β-catenin expression pattern in developing rats. Additionally, studies in mature hippocampal neurons treated with the herbicide also show changes in the expression of β-catenin. Taken together, these findings suggest that glyphosate exposure during development induces motor dysfunctions likely accompanied by a downregulation of the Wnt-β-catenin pathway.