Prolonged exposure to the herbicide atrazine promotes kidney fibrosis by activating Wnt/β‐catenin signaling in rats

Abstract

Exposure to atrazine (ATR), a widely-used herbicide, is a potential harmful to human health due to its long-term environmental persistence and bioaccumulation. The effects of chronic exposure to ATR on renal function in rats were evaluated in this research.Female Sprague-Dawley rats at 4 weeks of age were treated with different concentrations of ATR for 6 months. No significant differences in terms of renal functions were observed after ATR treatment. In histopathological examination of the kidney, Hematoxylin-Eosin staining indicated the development of degenerative changes in a dose-dependent manner. The results revealed that ATR exposure leads to renal fibrosis and that activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway plays a potential role in ATR-related renal fibrosis. Levels of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and TGF-β1 levels and the reactive oxygen species were significantly upregulated after ATR treatment. In conclusion, long-term exposure to ATR could cause kidney fibrosis, which is the result of epithelial-mesenchymal transition caused by inflammation and oxidative stress.

Lycopene Protects against Atrazine-Induced Kidney STING-Dependent PANoptosis through Stabilizing mtDNA via Interaction with Sam50/PHB1

“…Studies have suggested that exposure to ATR can cause mild renal cortical congestion, glomerulus inflammatory infiltration, ,, and tubular epithelial cell necrosis. , Our findings suggest that exposure to ATR leads to interstitial hemorrhage and inflammatory infiltration near the glomeruli and enlarges the cystic lumen to 3.41 and 5.83 times the original size in the A50 and A200 groups, respectively. Previous studies have shown that LYC attenuates renal cortical injury, inflammatory cell infiltration, and apoptosis, and our results suggested that LYC alleviated ATR-induced interstitial hemorrhage and inflammatory infiltration and reduced the enlarged capsular lumen by 26 and 45%, respectively.…”

“…Studies have suggested that exposure to ATR can cause mild renal cortical congestion, glomerulus inflammatory infiltration, 14,37,38 and tubular epithelial cell necrosis. 12,39 Our findings suggest that exposure to ATR leads to interstitial hemorrhage and inflammatory infiltration near the glomeruli and enlarges the cystic lumen to 3.41 and 5.83 times the original size in the A50 and A200 groups, respectively.…”

Atrazine Toxicity: The Possible Role of Natural Products for Effective Treatment

“…Wistar rats exposed to ATZ had increased renal peroxidative damage and serum uric acid levels [ 77 ]. Long-term ATZ exposure in rats caused the renal degenerative changes and fibrosis in rats [ 78 ].…”