Ecotoxicological risk assessment of 14 pesticides and corresponding metabolites to groundwater and soil organisms using China-PEARL model and RQ approach.

Global use of pesticides brings uncertain risks to human and nontarget species via environmental matrix. Currently, various models for exposure risk assessment are developed and widely used to forecast the impact of pesticides on environmental organisms. In this study, five commonly used insecticides, seven herbicides and three fungicides were chosen to analyze the subsequent risks in groundwater in simulated scenarios using China-PEARL (Pesticide Emission Assessment at Regional and Local Scales) model. In addition, their exposure risks to soil organisms were characterized based on risk quotient (RQ) approach. The results indicated that 23.3% of the total 528 predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) of pesticides and respective metabolites in groundwater from six Chinese simulated locations with ten crops were above 10 µg L-1. Furthermore, acceptable human risks of pesticides in groundwater were observed for all simulation scenarios (RQ < 1). Based on the derived PECs in soil short-term and long-term exposure simulation scenarios, all compounds were evaluated to be with acceptable risks to soil organisms, except that imidacloprid was estimated to be with unacceptable chronic risk (RQ = 27.5) to earthworms. Overall, the present findings provide an opportunity for a more-comprehensive understanding of exposure toxicity risks of pesticides leaching into groundwater and soil.

Berberine attenuates Aß42-induced neuronal damage through regulating circHDAC9/miR-142-5p axis in human neuronal cells.

BACKGROUND: Berberine plays a neuroprotective role in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Circular RNAs (circRNAs) function as crucial players in AD pathogenesis. In the current work, we aimed to investigate whether circRNA histone deacetylase 9 (circHDAC9) was involved in the regulation of berberine in AD. METHODS: Cell viability and apoptosis were determined by the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to assess caspase-3 activity and the production of interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). The levels of circHDAC9 and miR-142-5p were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Subcellular fractionation assays were performed to evaluate the localization of circHDAC9. The direct interaction between circHDAC9 and miR-142-5p was confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and RNA pull-down assays. RESULTS: Our data indicated that circHDAC9 was indeed a circular transcript and mainly localized in the cytoplasm. 42-residue ß-amyloid (Aß42) triggered a significant down-regulation in circHDAC9 and a striking up-regulation in miR-142-5p in human neuronal (HN) cells. Berberine relieved Aß42-induced HN cell neurotoxicity. Moreover, berberine resulted in increased circHDAC9 expression and decreased miR-142-5p level in Aß42-treated HN cells. Berberine alleviated Aß42-induced neuronal damage in HN cells by up-regulating circHDAC9. Furthermore, circHDAC9 acted as a molecular sponge of miR-142-5p. CircHDAC9 overexpression alleviated Aß42-induced HN cell neurotoxicity via miR-142-5p. CONCLUSION: Our current study suggested that berberine protected HN cell from Aß42-induced neuronal damage at least partly through regulating the circHDAC9/miR-142-5p axis, highlighting novel evidence for the neuroprotective effect of berberine in AD.