A Comparative Study on the Relationship Between Various Toxicological Endpoints in Caenorhabditis elegans Exposed to Organophosphorus Insecticides

Rajini, P. S. and Melstrom, Paul and Phillip, L. Williams (2008) A Comparative Study on the Relationship Between Various Toxicological Endpoints in Caenorhabditis elegans Exposed to Organophosphorus Insecticides. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, 71 . pp. 1043-1050.

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Abstract

The toxicity of 10 organophophorus (OP) insecticides—acephate, dimethoate, dichlorvos, dicrotophos, monocrotophos, methamidophos, phosphamidon, omethoate, phosdrin, and trichlorfon—was evaluated in Caenorhabditis elegans using lethality, movement, and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity as the endpoints after a 4-hrexposure period. The OP insecticides tested showed LC50 values ranging from 0.039 mM (for dichlorovs) to 472.8 mM (for methamidophos). The order of toxicity for lethality and movement was not significantly different when tested using the rank order correlation coefficient. AChE activity was markedly affected by all the OP insecticide exposures that caused significant inhibition in movement, indicating that the mechanism of toxicity of OP insecticides in C. elegans is the same as in higher animals. All OP insecticides induced greater than 50% inhibition of AChE at the lowest tested OP insecticide concentration resulting in inhibition in movement. While a significant correlation was evident between LC50 values in C. elegans and the LD50 values in rats for the 10 OP insecticides studied, a correlation was not evident between EC50 values in C. elegans and LD50 values in rats. Overall, the two endpoints, LC50 and movement, were more reliable and easier to perform than measurement of AChE activity in C. elegans for determining the toxicity of OP insecticides. Further, ranking of these endpoints with respect to the OP insecticides studied indicates that these parameters in C. elegans are predictive of OP insecticides mammalian neurotoxicity.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	organophophorus insecticides, toxicity, acetylcholinesterase enzyme
Subjects:	600 Technology > 01 Medical sciences > 17 Toxicology 500 Natural Sciences and Mathematics > 04 Chemistry and Allied Sciences > 26 Pesticide Chemistry
Divisions:	Food Protectants and Infestation Control
Depositing User:	Food Sci. & Technol. Information Services
Date Deposited:	28 Sep 2010 09:33
Last Modified:	28 Dec 2011 10:19
URI:	http://ir.cftri.res.in/id/eprint/9732

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