Xylopia aethiopica suppresses markers of oxidative stress, inflammation, and cell death in the brain of Wistar rats exposed to glyphosate

Neurotoxicity of glyphosate: Focus on molecular mechanisms probably associated with alterations in cognition and behavior

In recent decades, glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) have been extensively used in agriculture all over the world. Initially, they were considered safe, but rising evidence suggests that these molecules reach the central nervous system producing metabolic, functional, and permanent alterations that impact cognition and behavior. This theoretical and non-systematic review involved searching, integrating, and analyzing preclinical evidence regarding the effects of acute, sub-chronic, and chronic exposure to glyphosate and GBH on cognition, behavior, neural activity, and development in adult and juvenile rodents following perinatal exposition. In addition, this review gathers the mechanisms underlying the neurotoxicity of glyphosate mediating cognitive and behavioral alterations. Furthermore, clinical evidence of the effects of exposition to GBH on human health and its possible link with several neurological disorders was revised.

Association Between Urinary Glyphosate Exposure and Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults from NHANES 2013-2014

BACKGROUND

Glyphosate is the most commonly used herbicide with potential neurotoxicity. However, limited epidemical evidence is found in the relationship between glyphosate and cognitive impairment, especially in the cognitive-disrupting sensitive elderly populations.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to examine the association of urinary glyphosate exposure with cognitive impairment in the United State (US) older adults.

METHODS

Cognitive impairment was determined by the following four tests: the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD) Immediate Recall test (IR), the CERAD Delayed Recall tests (DR), the Animal Fluency (AF) test and the Digit Substitution test (DSST). Survey weighted logistic regression and restricted cubic splines were applied to evaluate and visualize the association between glyphosate and cognitive impairment.

RESULTS

A total of 465 elderly adults were identified in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013-2014 cycle, and among them, 83.87% individuals had detectable urinary levels of glyphosate (0.628 ng/mL in average). After adjusting for the potential covariates, glyphosate was significantly linked to increased DR and AF impairment, and the corresponding ORs were 1.52 (1.01 to 2.30, p = 0.049) and 1.69 (1.11 to 2.59, p = 0.019), respectively. No significant association was identified between glyphosate and IR or DSST impairment. The RCS plot further confirmed the linear and positive relationships between glyphosate and DR and AF impairment.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggested that exposure to glyphosate might be associated with declined cognitive function in the elderly, and it might be prudent to evaluate cognitive outcomes for aged individuals with glyphosate exposures.