Glyphosate exposure impairs nervous system development and functioning.

LUNA, SEBASTIAN; ROSSO SB

Carlos Paz

Congreso; XXXIV Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias.; 2019

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias

The proper formation, maintenance, and elimination of synapses are crucial to guarantee the formation of a functional nervous system. During development, these processes become particularly vulnerable to environmental contaminants. Glyphosate (Glyph) is one of the most used agrochemical around the world and from the late 1970s to 2019 there was a 100-fold increase in the frequency and volume of application. Therefore, in this work, we studied the effect of Glyph on synaptic function during development through in vivo and in vitro assays. Firstly, we evaluated the expression of synaptic proteins in the hippocampus of Glyph-treated rats and in hippocampal cultured neurons exposed to Glyph during a critical period of synaptogenesis. Surprisingly, both in vivo and in vitro assays evidenced a significant decrease in PSD-95 and Synapsin I, two well-known synaptic markers.Additionally, to further analyse the effect of Glyph on synaptic plasticity we used mature hippocampal cultured neuron. Results showed that the exposure to Glyph impairs dendritic spine density and morphology.Finally, we evaluated spatial learning and memory by the Morris water maze test and we found cognitive dysfunction in Glyph-exposed rats compared to controls. In conclusions, these findings suggest that Glyph exposure affects the normal development of nervous system impairing synaptogenesis and neuronal connectivity.