Death of guppy fish (Poecilia reticulata) leukocytes induced by in vivo exposure to temephos and spinosad

ABSTRACT

Temephos and spinosad are pesticides used for control of vector-borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and zika. However, the inadequate use of these substances has affected the health of non-target organisms. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare, the effects of temephos and spinosad on leukocyte viability and death, using guppy fish (Poecilia reticulate) as a model organism. Guppies were exposed to temephos (10 mg/L) and spinosad (0.5 mg/L) for 7, 14, and 21 days. Afterwards, they were placed in pesticide-free fish tanks (7, 35, and 70 days) for recovery. The results showed that exposure to temephos caused leukocyte death, even at 35 days of recovery. Contrarily, the exposure to spinosad did not cause leukocyte death. This research show, for the first time, that a single dose of temephos causes apoptosis up to 56 days post-exposition, indicating that this pesticide induces chronic effects on immune response cells.

KEYWORDS:

• Temephos
• spinosad
• vector control
• apoptosis
• necrosis

Disclosure statement

There is not conflict of interest and the authors declare that they have no direct relationship with the mentioned commercial entitles or any other related.

Additional information

Funding

This work was carried out in the Laboratorio Nacional para la Investigación en Inocuidad Alimentaria (LANIIA)-Unidad Nayarit, as part of the Project CONACyT-CB-2018 A1-S-53561