Introduction: Glyphosate is a phosphonate herbicide that has been used for 35 years, and it is still the most widely used herbicide in the world. The development of modern methods of in vitro toxicological analysis and the obvious increase in exposure to glyphosate have made it an increasingly studied xenobiotic. The widespread use of pesticides, especially glyphosate, causes large amounts to be released into the environment, where they pose a threat to entire ecosystems.
Methods: In our research, we focused on the best research model from the point of view of toxicology, in which human cell lines were used in order to test the cytotoxicity of glyphosate. The tested concentrations of this compound reflected the level of human exposure to this active substance and ranged from 0.01 mM to 10 mM. The analyzes were conducted on the human cell lines: MCF-7, T98G and DLD-1. In order to estimate the cytotoxicity of this herbicide, an MTT assay was used.
Results: A significant increase in cancer cell viability was observed under the influence of the studied concentrations of glyphosate. The effect was significant, especially under the influence of the lower concentrations studied.
Conclusions: The obtained results indicate the carcinogenic and tumor cell-stimulating effects of glyphosate. This indicates the need for the prudent use and monitoring of glyphosate in the environment due to its potentially hazardous effects on human health.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, A.J.-T., G.S. and E.W.; methodology, A.J.-T., G.S., U.W., E.W. and M.N.; software, A.J.-T. and U.W.; validation, E.W. and U.W.; formal analysis, A.J.-T. and M.N.; investigation, A.J.-T., G.S., M.N., U.W. and E.W.; resources, A.J.-T., E.W. and U.W.; data curation, G.S., E.W. and U.W.; writing—original draft preparation, A.J.-T., G.S., E.W. and U.W.; writing—review and editing, A.J.-T., G.S., E.W., U.W. and M.N.; visualization, E.W., U.W. and A.J.-T.; supervision, A.J.-T.; project administration, A.J.-T.; funding acquisition, A.J.-T., E.W. and U.W. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This work was financially supported by the Ministry of Education and Science, Poland, under the research project number WZ/WB-IIŚ/6/2022.
Institutional Review Board Statement
Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement
Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement
The data presented in this study are available on a reasonable request from the corresponding author.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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