Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity induced by the pesticide profenofos on cultured human peripheral blood lymphocytes

Profenofos is a broad-spectrum organophosphate insecticide and acaricide used widely for agricultural and household purposes. The aim of this investigation was to determine its toxicity profile in vitro , using lymphocytes from peripheral blood samples of healthy human donors. We found the IC50 of profenofos to be 3.5 mu M as measured by Trypan blue dye exclusion method. Chromosomal analyses of the metaphase plates of the samples treated with sublethal concentrations of profenofos revealed satellite associations and chromatid breaks and gaps, indicating its effect on chromosomes. The results were further supported by comet assay, where single-strand breaks in DNA were observed as comet tail lengths. The results were statistically significant (p < 0.01, ANOVA). Hence, it may be proposed that in vitro assays like the comet assay and chromosomal aberrations test, which indicate genetic damage, could be used to study the effect of organophosphorus pesticide poisoning in humans.