Probiotic Bifidobacterium longum Subsp. longum 51A Protects Mice from Genotoxic and Metabolic Alterations Induced by Subchronic Exposure to a Low-Dose Pesticide Cocktail

Environmental exposure to low levels of pesticide mixtures through food and domestic settings raises significant public health concerns due to their potential link to metabolic diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. As the intestinal microbiota and gastrointestinal tract serve as primary contact points for these contaminants, potentially eliminating residues or suffering direct damage leading to dysbiosis, probiotic interventions have emerged as promising therapeutic strategies for metabolic disorders. This study aimed to evaluate, in mice, the consequences of subchronic exposure to low doses of a mixture of three pesticides: glyphosate (15 mg/kg body weight/day), imidacloprid (5 mg/kg body weight/day), and tebuconazole (4 mg/kg body weight/day). Mice were exposed for 6 weeks. The probiotic Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum strain 5^1A was employed as a therapeutic strategy for gut microbiota modulation. Exposed animals experienced adverse metabolic and genotoxic effects including increased cholesterol and reduced insulin sensitivity, oxidative stress, and intestinal dysbiosis. B. longum 5^1A reversed these effects, improving metabolism and reducing prediabetes markers. As the first study examining this specific pesticide combination, imidacloprid, tebuconazole, and glyphosate highlight the distinct impact of pesticide mixtures on health, suggesting that intestinal dysbiosis may drive the observed metabolic changes, with microbiota modulation aiding recovery.