Cytotoxic and endocrine-disrupting potential of atrazine, diazinon, endosulfan, and mancozeb in adrenocortical steroidogenic cells of rainbow trout exposed in vitro

An in vitro bioassay for detection and quantitative assessment of chemicals with the capacity to disrupt adrenal steroidogenesis has been developed and used to compare the cytotoxic and endocrine-disrupting potential of four pesticides. Enzymatically dispersed adrenocortical cells of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were exposed in vitro to atrazine, diazinon, endosulfan, and mancozeb, and cortisol secretion in response to ACTH or dibutyryl-cAMP (dbcAMP) and cell viability were determined. The effective concentration, EC50 (concentration that inhibits cortisol secretion by 50%), the median lethal concentration, LC50 (concentration that kills 50% of the cells), and the LC50/EC50 ratio were established for the test pesticides. The pesticides were ranked as follows: EC50, endosulfan < diazinon < mancozeb < atrazine; LC50, diazinon < endosulfan < mancozeb < atrazine, with diazinon as the most cytotoxic. Endosulfan and mancozeb disrupted sites downstream of the cAMP-generating step of the cortisol synthetic pathway while atrazine seemed to act upstream from the cAMP step. The in vitro adrenal bioassay can be used for screening of adrenotoxicants and for mechanistic studies of adrenotoxicity.