Agricultural airborne work exposures are complex in nature and workplace exposures are a risk for respiratory outcomes in workers. Endotoxin and glyphosate are two common agents in agricultural exposures. While endotoxin (lipopolysaccaride, LPS) is a potent inflammatory agent it explains only a portion of the respiratory inflammatory response. The inflammatory potential when LPS is presented with another common agricultural respiratory agent, glyphosate, is not known.
Methods: Mice were assigned to four treatment groups: control, LPS alone, glyphosate alone, glyphosate and LPS combined. Treatments were for 1, 5 or 10 days.
Results: Five days of repeated exposure to the comintation of LPS and glyphosate resulted in higher neutrophil counts, myloperoxidase, TNF-α, IL-6, KC levels, and ICAM-1 and TLR-2 expression compared to the same length of treatment to LPS or glyphosate alone. After 10-days of exposure, inflammatory responses decreased, however leukocyte infiltration persisted along with increases in IL-4.
Conclusions: Glyphosate exposure modified LPS induced lung inflammatory responses and TLR-2 may be important in the modulated inflammatory response.
Keywords: Combined exposure; Glyphosate; LPS; Lung inflammation.
Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.