Subchronic Neurotoxic Effects of Cypermethrin on Earthworms

Abstract

Abstract Cypermethrin is one of the most heavily used pyrethroid pesticides worldwide and is a potential threat to soil organisms such as earthworms. In this paper, Amynthas corticis was selected as a test organism to investigate the neurobehavioral changes in movement, cognition and memory caused by subchronic neurotoxicity of cypermethrin in earthworms, starting from the changes in the characteristic enzymes of earthworms' nerve ion channels triggered by exposure to cypermethrin. The changes in biomarkers of earthworms were evaluated using the integrated biomarker response (IBR), and the mechanism of cypermethrin neurotoxicity in earthworms was investigated using molecular docking technology, so as to investigate the subchronic neurotoxicity of earthworms caused by exposure to cypermethrin. The results showed that the subchronic neurotoxicity of cypermethrin for earthworms increased with the increase of the exposure concentration and the duration of cypermethrin exposure. The chronic neurotoxicity of cypermethrin did not lead to earthworm death but induced neurobehavioral changes such as locomotor retardation and cognitive deficits in earthworms. Cypermethrin exposure induced abnormalities in the enzyme that characterizes nerve ion channels in earthworms, which is one of the possible molecular mechanisms for the neurobehavioral changes of locomotor retardation and cognition and memory disorders in earthworms.