In vitro toxicity of some pesticides on goat and dog spermatozoa

Abstract

In vitro toxic effects of selected pesticides (cypermethrin, flumethrin, propoxur, carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, metamidophos) were evaluated on dog and buck fresh spermatozoa using MTT (mitochondrial activity/viability), NeutralRed-NR (lysosomal activity/viability) and CASA (motility parameters/VCL, VSL, VAP, linearity, straightness, wobble) tests. For buck, the most toxic compounds were carbamates followed by organophosphate and pyrethroids. Carbamates, again induced the highest toxicity in dog sperm, followed by pyrethroids. In general, all pesticide treatments were found to increase the hyperactivity of buck spermatozoa except flumethrin; whereas a decrease was present for dog spermatozoa (except carbaryl). A decrease of VCL, VSL and VAP parameters was evident in buck (P0.05). Overall, flumethrin was found to induce less effect on motility parameters compared to cypermethrin. As a conclusion, the combination of MTT and CASA along with NR would provide more accurate data for the in vitro evaluation of chemicals on spermatozoa; where alternative testing strategies for the ReproTox tests (especially for cosmetic product safety assessment where animal testing is banned) are recommended nowadays with battery strategies and species specific differences would play a key role for understanding the defense mechanisms.

Keywords

• pesticides
• buck spermatozoa
• dog spermatozoa
• in vitro toxicity
• mtt
• casa
• neutral red