Adverse effects of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid on rat cerebellar granule cell cultures were attenuated by amphetamine.

2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), a worldwide-used herbicide, has been shown to produce a wide range of adverse effects in the health--from embryotoxicity and teratogenicity to neurotoxicity--of animals and humans. In this study, neuronal morphology and biochemical events in rat cerebellar granule cell (CGC) cultures have been analyzed to define some of the possible mechanisms involved in 2,4-D-induced cell death. For that purpose, amphetamine (AMPH) that has been shown to accelerate the recovery of several functions in animals with brain injury has been used as a pharmacologycal tool and was also investigated as a possible protecting agent. Addition of 2,4-D to CGC cultures produced a drastic decrease in cell viability, in association with an increased incidence of necrosis and apoptosis, and an increased level of reactive oxygen species, a decrease in glutathione content, and an abnormal activity of some enzymes with respect to the control group. The adverse effects of 2,4-D were partly attenuated in presence of AMPH. Some deleterious effects on several ultrastructural features of the cells, as well as the enhanced incidence of apoptosis, were partially preserved in AMPH-protected cultures as compared with those which were exposed to 2,4-D alone. The collected evidences (1) confirms the previously observed, deleterious effects of 2.4D on the same or a similar model; (2) suggests that the 2,4-D-induced apoptosis could have been mediated by or associated to an oxidative imbalance in the affected cells, and (3) shows some evidence of a protective effect of AMPH on 2,4-D-induced cell death, which could have been exerted through a reduction in the oxidative stress.