The possible cytotoxicity and genotoxicity assessment of indaziflam on HepG2 cells

The use of pesticides in farmland has increased considerably to protect crops against pests, weeds, and diseases. However, pesticides and/or their residues in ecosystems may affect non-target organisms. Indaziflam is a widely used herbicide in agricultural areas in the southern region of Turkey. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the possible genotoxic and cytotoxic effects of indaziflam on HepG2 cells using comet assay, micronucleus assay, and xCELLigence. The HepG2 cells were treated with various concentrations of indaziflam for different duration of time based on xCELLigence results. Accordingly, the cells were incubated with indaziflam at final concentrations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 μg/mL for 96 h for cytotoxicity assay. To assess genotoxicity, cells were treated with indaziflam at final concentrations of 10, 40, and 100 μg/mL for 4 and 24 h. Ethanol was used as a solvent for indaziflam. Hydrogen peroxide (40 μM) was used as a positive control. Studies have revealed that indaziflam did not show a statistically cytotoxic effect at the tested doses. Nevertheless, genotoxicity studies showed that indaziflam induced both DNA strand breaks and micronucleus numbers depending on the exposure time and dose.