Avermectin induced DNA damage to the apoptosis and autophagy in human lung epithelial A549 cells

Avermectin (AVM), as a biological insecticide, is widely used in agriculture and forestry production globally. However, inhalation of AVM may pose a risk, and the lung is the direct target, but the cytotoxicity of AVM on human lung cells is still unclear. Here, we attempted to elucidate the cytotoxic effect and molecular mechanism of AVM on human lung A549 cells. The results indicated that AVM inhibits cell proliferation, and enhances programmed cell death (apoptosis and autophagy). In addition, we found the AVM-treated cells showed an obvious drop in mitochondrial membrane potential and LC3-I/II, increased ROS production, DNA double-strand breaks, caspase-3/9 activated, PARP cleaved, cytochrome c and Bax/Bcl-2 content rise. The results showed that AVM induced mitochondria-related apoptosis and autophagy in lung A549 cells. These results indicate that AVM can pose a potential threat to human health by inducing DNA damage and programmed cell death. •AVM can pose an inhalation risk to human health.•AVM caused cytotoxicity and DNA damage to human lung A549 cells.•Cytotoxic exposure to AVM could be associated with apoptosis and autophagy.•AVM induced human lung A549 cells apoptosis in the mitochondrial pathway.