Subacute toxicity assessment of diflubenzuron, an insect growth regulator, in adult male rats

Abstract

Diflubenzuron (DFB), an insecticide and acaricide insect growth regulator, can be used in agriculture against insect predators and in public health programs, to control insects and vectors, mainly Aedes aegypti larvae. Due to the lack of toxicological assessments of this compound, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the toxicological effects of subacute exposure to the DFB insecticide in adult male rats. Adult male rats were exposed (gavage) to 0, 2, 4, or 8 mg/kg of DFB for 28 days. No clinical signs of toxicity were observed in the DFB-treated animals of the experimental groups. However, there was an increase in serum levels of alanine aminotransferase in the group that received 8 mg/kg/DFB/day and urea at doses of 4 and 8 mg/kg/DFB/day, without altering other biochemical or hematological parameters. The subacute exposure to the lowest dose of DFB caused significant decrease in testis weight, daily sperm production, and in number of sperm in the epididymis in relation to the control group. However, no alterations were observed in the sperm morphology, testicular, epididymis, liver and kidney histology, or testosterone levels. These findings unveiled the hazardous effects of DFB on male reproduction after the subacute exposure and special attention should be addressed to the effects of low doses of this pesticide.

Potential hepatic toxicity of buprofezin at sublethal concentrations: ROS-mediated conversion of energy metabolism

“…Cyromazine was fed to Luhmann hens at a level of 0.15 ppm for 3 weeks, and hepatic lipids was increased [33]. Adult male rats were exposed (gavage) to 0, 2, 4, or 8 mg/kg of diflubenzuron for 28 days, but no significant alterations were observed in the liver and kidney histology [34]. Chlorfluazuron exposure resulted in 53% inhibition of the cytochrome P450 (CYP1A1/2) activities in human hepatic microsomes [35].…”

Repeated exposure of pyriproxyfen to pregnant female mice causes developmental abnormalities in prenatal pups

“…In the previous study, the developmental toxicity of pyriproxyfen in zebrafish demonstrated the adverse morphological defects including behavioral effects, craniofacial defects, severe mortality, and teratogenicity at larval stages (Truong et al 2016). In addition, the assessment of subacute toxicity due to diflubenzuron (an IGR) in adult male rats exhibited significant decrease in testis weight, daily sperm production, and number of sperms in treated rats (Barros et al 2016).…”

The mixture of cashew nut shell liquid and castor oil results in an efficient larvicide against Aedes aegypti that does not alter embryo-fetal development, reproductive performance or DNA integrity

“…It is well established in the literature that the use of pesticides, insecticides, larvicides and/or growth inhibitors is directly linked to genetic/genomic instability, which can increase predisposition to cancer [ 8 , 49 – 55 ], in addition to altering reproductive performance and causing hormonal disorders and male infertility [ 56 , 57 ].…”

“…According to Barros et al [ 57 ], the aforementioned effects may be caused by diflubenzuron, which has been widely used in the recent epidemics and is efficient in combating mosquitoes/vectors but toxic. No information on pyriproxifen is available in the literature regarding its mutagenic and/or teratogenic effects.…”

“…Considering the above issues, the results of the present study were promising, including 1) the high larvicidal efficiency of the product, and2) the lack of changes in embryonic and fetal development caused by the product and no detected genetic instability. Such effects can be correlated with infertility, teratogenesis/congenital malformations and cancer [ 8 , 51 , 53 , 56 , 57 ], which are important health issues that may negatively impact public health systems because, as chronic diseases, they require large investments to treat and maintain the quality of life of patients.…”