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Volume 7, Issue 1 (January 2005) 7, 97–101; 10.1111/j.1745-7262.2005.00005.x
Effect of malathion on the male reproductive organs of earthworms, Eisenia foetida
Omar Espinoza-Navarro and Eduardo Bustos-Obregón
1.Department of Biology and Health, Faculty of Sciences, University of Tarapacá, Arica, Chile
2.Laboratory of Biology of Reproduction, ICBM, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
Correspondence: Prof. Omar Espinoza-Navarro, General Velsquez 1775 (7D), Arica, Chile. Tel: +56-58-205-415, Fax: +56-58-229-219 Email: oespinoz@uta.cl
Received: 2004-04-05 Accepted: 2004-10-08
| Abstract |
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Aim: To observe the cytotoxic effect of the organophosphate insecticide malathion in the reproductive tissues of the earthworms, Eisenia foetida.
Methods: Worms were nourished in soil treated with malathion at single sub-lethal doses of 0, 80, 150, 300 and 600 mgkg-1 soil. (LD50= 880 mgkg-1 soil) and evaluated on days 1, 5, 15 and 30 after exposure. The body weights were recorded and male reproductive organs evaluated. Results: Malathion-treated animals showed a significant reduction in body weight in a dose-dependent manner. Malathion treatment modified the disposition of spermatozoa in the basal epithelium of the spermatheca. The Br-deoxyuridine test showed a significant rise in cells in phase S on days 5 and 15. Also, a higher percentage of spermatogonia with fragmented DNA were observed by means of the TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) technique in the spermatheca of treated animals.
Conclusion: Treatment with malathion decreased the body weight and the spermatic viability in spermatheca, altering the cell proliferation and modifying the DNA structure of spermatogonia.
Keywords: Eisenia foetida, malathion, reproductive organs, apoptosis
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