Abstract
Pesticides are widely used in agriculture to kill pests, but their action is non-selective and results in several hazardous effects on humans and animals. Pesticide toxicity has been demonstrated to alter a variety of neurological functions and predisposes to various neurodegenerative diseases. Although, there is no data available for hexaflumuron (HFM) and hymexazol (HML) neurotoxicity. Hence, the present study aims to investigate the possible mechanisms of HFM and HML neurotoxicity. 21 male Wistar rats were divided into three groups and daily received the treatment via oral gavage for 14 days as follows: group (1) normal saline, group (2) HFM (1/100LD50), and group (3) HML (1/100 LD50). Our results revealed that both HFM and HML produced a significant increase in MDA levels and a decrease in GSH and CAT activity in some brain areas. There were severe histopathological alterations mainly neuronal necrosis and gliosis in different examined areas. Upregulation of mRNA levels of JNK and Bax with downregulation of Bcl-2 was also recorded in both pesticides exposed groups. In all studied toxicological parameters, HML produced neurotoxicity more than HFM. HFM targets the cerebral cortex and striatum, while HML targets the cerebral cortex, striatum, hippocampus, and cerebellum. We can conclude that both HFM and HML provoke neurobehavioral toxicity through oxidative stress that impairs the mitochondrial function and activates the JNK-dependent apoptosis pathway.