Effects of hemazin SC 500 (terbuthylazine) on antioxidative enzymes in human erythrocytes in vitro

Abstract

The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of the commercial formulation hemazin SC 500, an herbicide containing terbuthylazine as the active compound, on the isoenzyme patterns and activities of Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) and catalase (CAT), as well as on the glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity, in human erythrocytes in vitro. The human erythrocytes were treated with hemazin SC 500 over a broad range of terbuthylazine concentrations (37 nmol L-1– –37 mol L-1) for 1 and 3 h at a temperature of 37°C. Native electrophoresis of the control and treated samples revealed two SOD1 and one CAT isoform. Treatment did not affect the SOD1 and CAT isoenzyme profile, but induced a change in their activities. Terbuthylazine at lower concentration induced a significant increase of the total SOD1 activity and decreased the GST activity in samples incubated for 1 and 3 h. On the other hand, the highest increase in the CAT activity was observed for the sample treated for 1 h with a higher concentration of terbuthylazine. Hemazin SC 500 containing terbuthylazine induces changes in the erythrocyte antioxidative system whereby the response of individual enzymatic antioxidants depends on the concentration of the pesticide and the incubation time.