Impacts of glyphosate and nitrogen sources on the glycation process and dicarbonyl scavenging capacity of mangiferin through the formation of mangiferin-MGO adducts

Abstract

Brazil is the largest exporter of grains (corn and soybeans) in the world and uses Roundup®, a glyphosate-based formulation, as its main pesticide. Considering the high consumption of these brazilian grains and its derivatives by the world population, it is possible that the grains consumed are potentially contaminated by this herbicide. Therefore, this work analyzed the glycation capacity of Roundup® and its precursors (glycine and glyphosate), as well as verifying whether mangiferin, which has antiglycation action as already reported in the literature, acts as a scavenger of methylglyoxal. The systems were evaluated using spectroscopic (fluorescence) and chromatographic (HPLC-UV/HPLC-ESI-MS) techniques. The results showed that temperature is a very significant factor in the process of AGEs formation, and that the use of Roundup® had a glycation action superior to that of a solution of its pure active principle. Mangiferin demonstrated a high antiglycation activity in BSA-glucose and BSA-methylglyoxal or glyoxal systems, with two mangiferin-MGO adducts identified. Thus, it is concluded that the use of glyphosate may contributes to increased glycation in the human body, when plants treated with this herbicide are ingested, and that mangiferin has a high antiglycation capacity by sequestration of methylglyoxal resulting in the formation of two major monoadducts.