Abstract:
Cyanotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by different types of cyanobacteria. Among them,
Cylindrospermopsin (CYN), Microcystins (MCs) and Nodularin (NOD) stand out due to their wide
geographical distribution. The toxicity of cyanotoxins in various organs, including the kidney, has been
documented using animal models. However, studies on renal toxicity of CYN, MCs and NOD are
limited. Thus, the present study evaluated the cytotoxicity of CYN, MC-LR, MC-RR and NOD on the Vero
renal cell line. Cell viability was measured using sulphorhodamine B (SRB) assay following exposure of
cells to pure CYN, MC-LR, MC-RR and NOD at different concentrations (0.5, 1.0, 5.0, 10.0, 50.0, 100.0,
and 200.0 µM) for 24 h and calculating the half maximal Inhibitory Concentration (IC50) values. The highest
cell mortality was recorded for different concentrations (0.5, 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, and 200 µM) of CYN. Cells
exposed to 200 µM concentration of CYN, MC-LR, MC-RR, and NOD showed 94.31±0.01, 92.92±0.01,
84.71±0.01, and 78.74±0.01% mortality percentages, respectively. Significant results were obtained for the
dose-dependent cytotoxicity of the Vero renal cells exposure to CYN, MC-LR, MC-RR, and NOD at
p<0.05. The results revealed that CYN had the lowest IC50 value (23.30) while NOD had the highest
(72.35). Therefore, the finding of the study showed that cyanotoxins could cause cytotoxicity in renal cells,
with CYN having the highest effect and NOD the least.
Financial assistance from the Centre for Water Quality and Algae Research and National Research Council
(Grant No:16-078) is acknowledged.
