Study of survival and growth in the second-generation of rats exposed to glyphosate or glyphosate-base herbicide

ALMIRÓN A; LORENZ V; DONÁ F; DI PAOLO S; VARAYOUD J; DURANDO M; MILESI MM

Mar del Plata

Congreso; LXVII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Clínica (SAIC); 2022

SAIC

Glyphosate (Gly) is the active ingredient of herbicide formulations known as glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH), the most widely used pesticides worldwide. Previously, we found that fetuses (F2) whose mothers (F1) had been exposed in utero and during lactation to a low dose of a GBH or Gly exhibited intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) in a rat model. The IUGR is the second cause of perinatal mortality, and it may induce cardiovascular (CV) remodeling, leading to short/long-term health dysfunctions. Here, we investigated whether GBH- or Gly-induced IUGR could affect the normal development and physiology of the F2 generation, from birth until peripubertal period. For this, pregnant rats (F0) were exposed to Gly or a GBH through food, in a dose of 2 mg of glyphosate/kg/day, from gestational day (GD) 9 until offspring (F1) weaning (postnatal day -PND- 21). On PND90, F1 females became pregnant. One group was euthanized at GD19 to assess the length and the heart and body weight of F2 fetuses. Another group of dams was allowed to deliver and lactate their offspring (F2). In F2 generation, we determined the litter size and sex ratio, the survival rate, the weight gain from PND1 to PND21, and the onset of puberty in females. F2 fetuses from GBH and Gly groups exhibited reduced body weight and length, in association with higher relative heart weight (p