The effects of neonicotinoid on neural differentiation and blood brain barrier

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K23125
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0908:Society medicine, nursing, and related fields
• Research Institution: Gunma University
• Principal Investigator: Fujiwara Yuki 群馬大学, 大学院医学系研究科, 助教 (20881220)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-09-11 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 脳発達 / 農薬

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Neonicotinoids are chemicals used as pesticides because they are selectively toxic to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAchRs) in insects. However, it may also affect the human nAchR, which is important for neuronal differentiation. Therefore, I examined the effects of neonicotinoid exposure on neurodevelopment and differentiation using Rencell VM cells, a human fetal midbrain-derived neural progenitor cell line.
The results of RT-PCR and immunostaining showed no significant difference in both βIII-tubulin and GFAP in the neonicotinoid-exposed group compared to the control group. These results suggest that neonicotinoids are unlikely to affect the differentiation of neural progenitor cells into neural cells.

Free Research Field

神経発達毒性学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、農薬として主に使用されるネオニコチノイド類曝露によるヒト神経発達への毒性評価を行ったもので、ネオニコチノイド類の有効活用を行うために必須である閾値の明確にするための一助となる重要な基礎データである。