TOXIC EFFECTS OF ENDOSULFAN BASED INSECTICIDES ON MAMMALIAN SPERM: EVALUATION OF IN VITRO CHROMATIN DECONDENSATION AND DNA FRAGMENTATION

MELISA CELESTE SANCHEZ; CRISTIAN ALVAREZ SEDO; MARINA ROMANATO; LO NOSTRO FABIANA; LUCRECIA CALVO; CALVO JC; FONTANA V

Porto

Congreso; EUROTOX; 2015

Portuguese Society of Pharmacology

Endosulfan is an organochlorine insecticide, which is extensively used in several countries to protect crops from pest. Even when a global ban on the manufacture and use of endosulfan was negotiated under the Stockholm Convention because of its threats to human health and the environment, it is still used in a few countries. As several studies support endosulfan can affect human development, the aim of this study is to analyze if the process of chromatin decondensation after the spermatozoon penetrates the oocyte could also be altered in mice sperm. Spermatozoa from cauda epididymis were obtained from male mice (60-70 days old) and co-incubated in the presence of two commercial formulations (CF) of endosulfan (Master® and Zebra Ciagro®) and the active ingredient (AI) alone as well as with control DMSO. A significant decrease in % motility of spermatozoa that were co-incubated with endosulfan respect to the control ones (p< 0.0001) was found. The in vitro decondensation was performed in the presence of glutathione and heparin. Spermatozoa that were co-incubated with AI (36 ± 3% control, n=7 versus 60.5 ± 5% treated, n=7, p