Detection of Chromosomal Breaks Induced by Thiacloprid in Human Lypmhocytes and Detection of Double-Strand Breaks Based on γH2AX Histone Phosphorylation

Thiacloprid, a neonicotinoid insecticide, is widely used to control various species of pests in the current agriculture of today. The potential genotoxic effects of thiacloprid on human peripheral blood lymphocytes were investigated in vitro by chromosome aberrations (CA), and double-strand breaks (DSB), which were detected by the phosphorylation of γH2AX histone. Human peripheral blood lymphocytes were exposed to 30, 60, 120, 240, 480 µg.ml⁻¹ doses for the last 24 and 48 hours of culture. Thiacloprid increased CA at the concentrations of 240, 480 μg.ml⁻¹ (P < 0.05), but these results did not confirm genotoxicity. The mitotic index (MI) was important to us; it served as a basis for the confirmation of the cytotoxicity of this insecticide. During 48 hours of culture, at the concentration of 480 µg.ml⁻¹, its value rapidly decreased (0.42) (P < 0.001), which did not allow us to analyse the results because of the high cytotoxic response.