LI Medved’s Research Centre of Preventive Toxicology, Food and Chemical Safety, Ministry of Health, Ukraine (State Enterprise), Kyiv, Ukraine

Abstract. The use of poor-quality pesticides can lead to the development of pest resistance, increased levels of residues in finished products with corresponding risks to human health and the environment. In Ukraine, on the basis of mesotrione, a widely used systemic herbicide, more than 20 compounds, mainly generics, have been registered. To date, due to the lack of relevant data, the risks to humans associated with the consumption of food and drinking water with residues of mesotrione and/or its metabolites have not been definitively established.

Aim. To study histomorphological changes caused by mesotrione in a sub chronic experiment on male Wistar Hannover rats.

Materials and Methods. Male Wistar Hannover rats (n = 180) were orally administered one of three technical mesotrione samples (A, B, C) for 90 days at doses 0; 0.1; 0.4 and 4 mg/kg of body weight. At the end of the experiment, histological examinations of the main target organs exposed to the toxic effects of mesotrione: liver, kidney and thyroid gland were performed.

Results. Changes in the stroma and parenchyma of the liver under the exposure to mesotrione were not observed. Mild thyrotoxic effect at 4 mg/mg mesotrione exposure for samples A and B, as well as mild nephrotoxic effect at 4 mg/mg mesotrione exposure at sample C were detected. The most common changes detected in kidney were the intratubular micro petrifications, eosinophilic content in cortical tubules, the desquamation of the epithelium of the cortical tubules and hydropic degeneration, in the thyroid gland - degenerativedesquamative disorder, focal fibrosis and epithelioid cysts.

Conclusions. In a sub chronic experiment in Wistar Hannover male rats, two samples of mesotrione demonstrated a mild thyrotoxic effect at a dose of 4 mg/kg and one sample had a mild nephrotoxic effect at a dose of 4 mg/kg. According to the indicator of nonspecific dystrophic changes in the thyroid gland (samples A and B) and in the renal cortex (sample C), the dose of 0.4 mg/kg can be considered as NOAEL.

Key Words: mesotrione, rats, sub chronic experiment, histomorphological changes.

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Стаття надійшла до редакції 17.02.2022 / The article was received February 17, 2022.