Reproductive toxicity of pesticide indoxacarb (Avaunt®)‎ and the protective role of selenium in male mice

Abstract EN

Environmental and/or occupational exposure to toxic substances such as pesticides and heavy metals continues to be a major worldwide public health concern.

Epidemiological studies have shown worldwide dramatic increase in cancer, endocrine disruption and male infertility over the past decades.

The etiology of these serious health issues are linked to the presence of toxic substances, especially pesticides, in the environment.

Assessment of sperm parameters are used as an indicator for identifying and characterizing male reproductive toxic agents.

Indoxacarb is a non-organophosphorus oxadiazine insecticide that is considered a safe substitute for organophosphate insecticides.

However, there is limited data concerning its reproductive toxicity.

Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the reproductive toxicity of pesticide Indoxacarb in adult male albino mice and the protective role of Selenium.

Forty albino male mice, age 8-12 weeks, were divided into four groups of ten mice each.

The mice were treated intraperitoneally (i.p) for 5 consecutive days with: water (5mL/kg) Group I (control), selenium (100 μg/kg) group II, Indoxacarb (90 mg/kg) group III, and combined treatment of Indoxacarb + Selenium group IV.

At the end of experiment, seminal fluid was collected from vas deferens; sperm quality (sperm count, morphology and motility) and histopathological lesions of testis were carried out.

SPSS software was applied for comparing groups.

The results of this study provide evidence for the potential reproductive toxicity of the pesticide Indoxacarb in treated male mice as revealed by the significantly affected sperm parameters (low sperm count, decreased sperm motility, and high number of abnormal sperm morphology) and the histoarchitectural damage of the testes.

The results also show that Selenium exerted a protective effect over the damage induced by the acute exposure of Indoxacarb on all the analyzed mice sperm parameters and histoarchitecture of mice testes.

This study emphasize the association of pesticides with decreased semen quality and hence infertility.

Further studies are needed to better define the molecular genetic mechanisms of Indoxacarb reproductive toxicity and the search for new safe methods for insect control.