title: Acute toxicity assessment of azadirachtin-based pesticides using murine hybridoma and oyster cells.
abstract: In vitro acute toxicities of azadirachtin-containing pesticides (Neemix and Bioneem), formulated with neem tree extracts, and pure azadirachtin (AZA), the believed active ingredient, were studied using hybridoma and oyster cells and were compared to results obtained using the standard in vivo Daphnia pulex toxicity assay. Neem-based pesticides showed relatively high toxicity to both hybridoma and oyster cells at concentrations of 1 microg AZA/mL and higher. The IC50 values for hybridoma cells were 2.15 microg AZA/mL for Neemix and 1.67 pg AZA/mL for Bioneem. Oyster cells had IC50 values of 2.18 microg AZA/mL for Neemix and 9.46 pg AZA/mL for Bioneem. Purified AZA, however, did not appear to be as toxic as the formulations. D. pulex was also more sensitive to neem-based pesticide exposure than that of pure AZA. The applications and limits of these two in vitro models for testing the acute toxicity of AZA-based pesticides are discussed in comparison with the in vivo D. pulex test.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station and Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Goktepe
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Plhak
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D003621:Daphnia / Q000187:drug effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006825:Hybridomas / Q000187:drug effects*; D007306:Insecticides / Q000633:toxicity*; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D036701:Limonins / Q000633:toxicity*; D051379:Mice; D010125:Ostreidae / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D023382:Toxicity Tests, Acute
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D036701:Limonins; C010329:azadirachtin