Applications of Metabonomics in Pesticide Toxicology

Metabonomic studies quantitatively measure the small molecule metabolites and their intermediates in the biological samples (serum, urine or tissue extracts) and have gained wide applications in many fields, especially in toxicology. Pesticides are extensively used around the world and pesticide toxicity has become a serious threat to human health. Metabonomic approach has been applied in many aspects of pesticide toxicology research such as eco-environmental toxicity studies, biomarker identification, and mechanism of toxicity studies. Both whole organism animal models and cell culture models are used for metabonomic studies on pesticide toxicology. In the literature, metabonomic analyses on the toxicity of over thirty common pesticides, including insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, have been carried out using magnetic resonance spectroscopy or mass spectrometry. The combined toxicity of pesticides or pesticide with heavy metals was also investigated with metabonomic approach. In this article, recent progresses made in applying metabonomic approach in pesticide toxicology are thoroughly reviewed and the challenges with application of this approach are also discussed.