The Short-Term Exposure to SDHI Fungicides Boscalid and Bixafen Induces a Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Selective Human Cell Lines

CytoFlux-Flow Cytometry Platform, Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), 1200 Brussels, Belgium

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Academic Editor: Alejandro Samhan-Arias

Molecules 2021, 26(19), 5842; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26195842

Received: 7 September 2021 / Revised: 23 September 2021 / Accepted: 24 September 2021 / Published: 26 September 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Reactive Oxygen Species Production and Handling by Biological Systems)

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Abstract

Fungicides are used to suppress the growth of fungi for crop protection. The most widely used fungicides are succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHIs) that act by blocking succinate dehydrogenase, the complex II of the mitochondrial electron transport chain. As recent reports suggested that SDHI-fungicides could not be selective for their fungi targets, we tested the mitochondrial function of human cells (Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells or PBMCs, HepG2 liver cells, and BJ-fibroblasts) after exposure for a short time to Boscalid and Bixafen, the two most used SDHIs. Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was used to assess the oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and the level of mitochondrial superoxide radical. The OCR was significantly decreased in the three cell lines after exposure to both SDHIs. The level of mitochondrial superoxide increased in HepG2 after Boscalid and Bixafen exposure. In BJ-fibroblasts, mitochondrial superoxide was increased after Bixafen exposure, but not after Boscalid. No significant increase in mitochondrial superoxide was observed in PBMCs. Flow cytometry revealed an increase in the number of early apoptotic cells in HepG2 exposed to both SDHIs, but not in PBMCs and BJ-fibroblasts, results consistent with the high level of mitochondrial superoxide found in HepG2 cells after exposure. In conclusion, short-term exposure to Boscalid and Bixafen induces a mitochondrial dysfunction in human cells. View Full-Text

Keywords: EPR; oxygen consumption rate (OCR); superoxide; mitochondria; SDHI; Boscalid; Bixafen

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MDPI and ACS Style

d’Hose, D.; Isenborghs, P.; Brusa, D.; Jordan, B.F.; Gallez, B. The Short-Term Exposure to SDHI Fungicides Boscalid and Bixafen Induces a Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Selective Human Cell Lines. Molecules 2021, 26, 5842. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26195842

AMA Style

d’Hose D, Isenborghs P, Brusa D, Jordan BF, Gallez B. The Short-Term Exposure to SDHI Fungicides Boscalid and Bixafen Induces a Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Selective Human Cell Lines. Molecules. 2021; 26(19):5842. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26195842

Chicago/Turabian Style

d’Hose, Donatienne, Pauline Isenborghs, Davide Brusa, Bénédicte F. Jordan, and Bernard Gallez. 2021. "The Short-Term Exposure to SDHI Fungicides Boscalid and Bixafen Induces a Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Selective Human Cell Lines" Molecules 26, no. 19: 5842. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26195842

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The Short-Term Exposure to SDHI Fungicides Boscalid and Bixafen Induces a Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Selective Human Cell Lines

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