Evaluation of acetamiprid and azoxystrobin residues and their hormonal disrupting effects on male rats using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 16; no. 12; p. e0259383
• Main Authors: Halawa, Ekramy, Ryad, Lamia, El-Shenawy, Nahla S, Al-Eisa, Rasha A, El-Hak, Heba N Gad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 02-12-2021; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Agricultural research; Analysis; Analytical methods; Animals; Azoxystrobin; Biology and Life Sciences; Calibration; Chromatography; Chromatography, Liquid - methods; Detection limits; Disruption; Endocrine disruptors; Endocrine Disruptors - administration & dosage; Endocrine Disruptors - analysis; Endocrine Disruptors - pharmacokinetics; Endocrine Disruptors - toxicity; Endocrine system; Estriol - analysis; Estrone; Estrone - analysis; Evaluation; Gonadal Steroid Hormones - analysis; Hormones; Limit of Detection; Liquid chromatography; Liver; Male; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Medicine and Health Sciences; Neonicotinoid insecticides; Neonicotinoids - administration & dosage; Neonicotinoids - analysis; Neonicotinoids - pharmacokinetics; Neonicotinoids - toxicity; Pesticide residues; Pesticides; Pesticides - toxicity; Physical Sciences; Progesterone; Properties; Pyrimidines - administration & dosage; Pyrimidines - analysis; Pyrimidines - pharmacokinetics; Pyrimidines - toxicity; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Reproducibility of Results; Residues; Scientific imaging; Spectroscopy; Strobilurins - administration & dosage; Strobilurins - analysis; Strobilurins - pharmacokinetics; Strobilurins - toxicity; Tandem Mass Spectrometry - methods; Testosterone; Testosterone - analysis; Tissue Distribution; Zoology; Egypt; Canada; Suez Canal; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259383

Endocrine-disrupting compounds as pesticides affect the hormonal balance, and this can result in several diseases. Therefore, the analysis of representative hormones with acetamiprid (AC) and azoxystrobin (AZ) was a good strategy for the investigation of the endocrine-disrupting activity of pesticides. Hence, a sensitive and rapid analytical method using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed. The method was validated for the analysis of AC, AZ, estriol, estrone, progesterone, and testosterone in the serum, testis, and liver of rats. The correlation between the residues of pesticides and the disturbance of the endocrine system was evaluated. The different mass parameters, mobile phase types, analytical columns, injection volumes, and extraction solvents were compared to get the lowest limit of detection of the studied compounds. The detection limits of AC, AZ, estriol, estrone, progesterone, and testosterone were 0.05, 0.05, 1.0, 10, and 1.0 ng/ml, respectively. The method developed was applied to evaluate the changes in these hormones induced by the duration of exposure to AC and AZ in rat testis and serum. The hormones level in rat serum and testis had a significant decrease as they were oral gavage treated with different high concentrations of studied pesticides. Both pesticides were distributed in the body of rats by the multi-compartment model (liver, testis, and serum).