Abstract

MANAS, F et al. Oxidative stress and comet assay in tissues of mice administered glyphosate and ampa in drinking water for 14 days. BAG, J. basic appl. genet. [online]. 2013, vol.24, n.2, pp.67-75. ISSN 1852-6233.

Excessive amounts of the herbicide glyphosate are incorporated daily to the soil and the ecosystems. AMPA is its major environmental breakdown product. In this study we determined the levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs); quantified superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity in liver, kidney, lung and heart, and performed the comet assay in blood and liver of mice administered glyphosate (40 or 400 mg/kg/day) or AMPA (100 mg/kg/day) in drinking water for 14 days. Exposure to glyphosate 400 mg/kg induced a statistically significant (p <0.05) decrease of SOD activity in heart and an increase in CAT activity in kidney. In the comet assay there were statistically significant differences in all the treatments and tissues studied in comparison to control animals (p≤ 0.01). The major results of this study were that mice administered glyphosate or AMPA in drinking water for 14 days induced a significant increase in DNA damage in liver and blood but minor effects on oxidative stress parameters. DNA effects on liver and blood indicate that these compounds could be of concern in terms of their potential to damage the genetic material, and that oxidative stress does not seem to be the mechanism causing that effect.

Keywords : Pesticides; Mice; Genotoxicity.

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