Glyphosate affects the development of pyramidal hippocampal neurons.

COULLERY, ROMINA ; ROSSO, SILVANA

Huerta Grande

Congreso; II REUNIÓN CONJUNTA DE NEUROSCIENCIA; 2010

Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencia

Glyphosate (active ingredient of Round-Up) is used as a non-selective organophophorus herbicide for controlling the growth of weeds. Mammals and humans are exposed to glyphosate containing herbicides by agriculture activity. Up to date, this herbicide is considered innocuous and few data about its toxicity is available. In this work, we study the potential effect of glyphosate on developmental neurons. We examine the effect of glyphosate on neuronal differentiation and polarity which are critical processes for establishing the proper neural connections. Cultured neurons were exposed to the herbicide (as acid or salt) at different concentrations during 1 and 2 DIV and their morphology was analyzed by microscopy. After 1 DIV, control neurons develop one clear axon and several minor processes. In contrast, glyphosate treated neurons do not polarized after 24h in culture. However, neurons exposed to the herbicide for 2 days show one axon and several dendrites but they exhibit a significant decrease in length and complexity. In addition, these neurons showed changes in the growth cone morphology. These observations suggest that the exposure to sub-lethal doses of glyphosate causes neurotoxic effects on developmental neurons that could affect neuronal connectivity and function.