Use of multiple endpoints to investigate the ecotoxicological effects of abamectin and thiamethoxam on Theba pisana snails

Abstract

The ecotoxicological effects of dietary exposure to sublethal concentration (1/20 LC50) of abamectin (ABM) and thiamethoxam (TMX) for two weeks exposure and one week recovery on oxidative stress parameters; lipid peroxidation (LPO), reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT) and glutathione S-transferase (GST), Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage as well as immunological parameters; cell death, phagocytosis, lysosomal membrane stability (LMS), lectins, superoxide anion (O2-) generation, phenoloxidase (PO), peroxidase (POD) and hemocyanin (Hc) of the land snail, Theba pisana were examined. The results showed that both tested compounds significantly increased DNA damage, LPO content, the activity of CAT and GST, cell death, POD activity, Hc level, whereas, significantly declined in phagocytic activity, LMS, lectins level, O2– generation, PO activity, and GSH content compared to the controls after two week exposure. After one week of recovery, the measured biochemical parameters of treated snails were slightly repaired but their levels were still less than that of the level of untreated animals. Overall, based on acute toxicity endpoints, ABM appeared to be more harmful than TMX against this animal. Indeed, the different patterns of endpoint responses could represent a useful picture to characterise exposure to these pesticides in the land snail, T. pisana. This battery of snail endpoints might be a promising option to biomonitor the health of the terrestrial ecosystem and to offer valuable insights to the pesticides toxicity mechanisms.