MULTIGENERATIONAL EFFECTS OF GLYPHOSATE HERBICIDE: ASSESSMENT OF OXIDATIVE STRESS BIOMARKERS AND FETAL/NEONATAL GROWTH AND SURVIVAL IN THE SECOND GENERATION OF RATS

ALMIRÓN A; LORENZ V; ATTADEMO AM; DONÁ F; VARAYOUD J; DURANDO M; MILESI MM

Belo Horizonte

Congreso; III Latin American Congress of Environmental, Experimental and Nanomaterials Toxicology; 2023

Environmental and food contamination by glyphosate (Gly), the pesticide most used worldwide to control weeds, has raised concern about the health effects on humans and non-target organisms. Gly (active compound) or commercial glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) can disrupt endocrine function, with detrimental effects on reproductive outcomes, which could be inherited through successive generations. Previously, we showed that perinatal exposure to Gly or GBH led to preimplantation embryo losses in rats. The current study aimed to investigate the multigenerational effects of perinatal exposure to Gly or GBH on second generation of rats (F2), analyzing oxidative stress biomarkers in amniotic fluid (AF), and fetal/neonatal growth and survival. Pregnant Wistar rats (F0) were orally treated with Gly or GBH (2 mg of Gly/kg/day) from gestation day (GD) 9 until lactational day 21. When F1 females reached sexual maturity, they were mated and assigned to two groups. One group was sacrificed on GD19 to evaluate the fetal body weight and the pro/antioxidant status of the intrauterine milieu, by assessing in AF the levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS, as indicators of lipid peroxidation), and the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and glutathione reductase. The other group was allowed to deliver to evaluate the weight and the mortality rate of F2 offspring from birth until postnatal day (PND)21. F2 fetuses from Gly and GBH groups exhibited intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), evidenced by a higher percentage of fetuses below the 10th percentile compare to controls (p