Oxidative stress and DNA damage induced by spinosad exposure in Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cells

Spinosad, a neurotoxic insecticide, is widely used for crop protection. In order to elucidate the effects of spinosad on oxidative stress and genotoxicity in Sf9 cells, the levels of lipid peroxidation, the activity of antioxidative enzymes, and DNA damage were measured. The results showed that spinosad caused a time-dependent increase in the formation of malondialdehyde and decrease in the activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase. Further studies confirmed that spinosad induced 8-oxoguanine accumulation in Sf9 cells, which is accompanied by increased expression of DNA repair enzymes (OGG1 and MTH1). The neutral comet assay revealed that spinosad induced significant time-related increases of DNA double-strand breaks in Sf9 cells. Our results indicate that spinosad effectively induced oxidative stress and DNA damage in Sf9 cells.