Mesotrione herbicide does not cause genotoxicity, but modulates the genotoxic effects of Atrazine when assessed in mixture using a plant test system (Allium cepa).

Mesotrione (MES) is an herbicide from the triketone family and has been used as an alternative to Atrazine (ATZ), which was banned in some countries due to its toxicity to non-target organisms. Despite being considered an eco-friendly herbicide, data from the literature about the harmful effects of MES in its pure form and/or in combination with other herbicides is still scarce. Aimed at assessing the potential of MES to induce cell death and DNA damage, seeds of Allium cepa (higher plant, monocotyledon) were exposed to this herbicide, pure and in mixture with ATZ, and the number of dividing cells (cytotoxicity), chromosomal aberrations (CA, genotoxicity) and micronuclei (MN, mutagenicity) were then quantified. The pure MES (1.8 to 460 µg/L) did not show either cytotoxicity or genotoxicity/mutagenicity under the tested conditions. The genotoxicity of ATZ (1.5 to 400 µg/L), previous reported in the literature, was confirmed herein. The assessment of MES + ATZ mixtures (1.8 + 1.5; 7 + 6.25; 30 + 25 µg/L, respectively) showed that MES, at low concentrations, enhance the genotoxicity of ATZ (potentiation), since the significant frequencies of CA and MN were greater than the ones expected in additive effects. Taking together, MES in its pure form seems to be a safe alternative to ATZ regarding the capacity to damage (at cellular and DNA levels) non-target plants (Monocots); however, MES in combination with ATZ appeared to act as a co-mutagen at low concentrations.

Oxidative stress and sex difference in liver of rats exposed to cyclohexanone / Estrés oxidativo y diferencia sexual en el hígado de ratas expuestas a ciclohexanona

Cyclohexanone is widely used in industry for the organic synthesis of chemicals such as adipic acid, caprolactam, polyvinyl chloride and its copolymers, and methacrylate ester polymers. Its mechanism of toxicity, especially oxidative stress, is rarely reported in cyclohexanone toxicity studies. In this study, we evaluate oxidative stress immunohistochemically in the livers of rats exposed to cyclohexanone. Rats were exposed to 0 ppm and 625 ppm cyclohexanone for 6 h/day, 5 days/week, for 13 weeks via whole-body inhalation. All rats were sacrificed at the end of exposure and livers were removed and prepared for histological examination. Histopathology indicated an increase in bile duct hyperplasia in the liver was only observed in the cyclohexanone-exposed group, compared to that in the control group in males. Immunohistochemistry showed 4-HNE immunoreactivity in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes in the liver. Immunoreactivity was significantly stronger in the cyclohexanone-exposed group compared to the control group in both sexes. However, it was significantly stronger in males compared to females. This result shows a sex-based difference in the expression of oxidative stress in response to cyclohexanone exposure.

La ciclohexanona se usa ampliamente en la industria para la síntesis orgánica de sustancias químicas, como el ácido adípico, la caprolactama, el cloruro de polivinilo y sus copolímeros y los polímeros del éster metacrilato. Su mecanismo de toxicidad, especialmente el estrés oxidativo, se observa raramente en los estudios de toxicidad de la ciclohexanona. En el presente estudio, evaluamos el estrés oxidativo a través de la inmunohistoquímica en hígados de ratas expuestas a la ciclohexanona. Las ratas fueron expuestas a 0 ppm y 625 ppm de ciclohexanona por 6 horas diarias, 5 días a la semana durante 13 semanas, mediante inhalación corporal total. Al final de la exposición, se sacrificaron las ratas y se extirparon sus hígados para el examen histológico. La histopatología indicó que se observó un aumento de la hiperplasia del conducto biliar solamente en el grupo expuesto a la ciclohexanona, en comparación con el grupo de control en machos. La inmunohistoquímica mostró una inmunorreactividad al 4-HNE en el citoplasma de los hepatocitos del hígado. La inmunorreactividad fue significativamente mayor en el grupo expuesto a la ciclohexanona, en comparación con el grupo control en ambos sexos. Sin embargo, fue significativamente mayor en los machos, en comparación con el hígado de las hembras. Este resultado muestra una diferencia basada en el sexo, en la expresión del estrés oxidativo en respuesta a la exposición a la ciclohexanona.