Prolonged exposure to the herbicide atrazine promotes kidney fibrosis by activating Wnt/β‐catenin signaling in rats

Exposure to atrazine (ATR), a widely-used herbicide, is a potential harmful to human health due to its long-term environmental persistence and bioaccumulation. The effects of chronic exposure to ATR on renal function in rats were evaluated in this research. Female Sprague-Dawley rats at 4 weeks of age were treated with different concentrations of ATR for 6 months. No significant differences in terms of renal functions were observed after ATR treatment. In histopathological examination of the kidney, Hematoxylin-Eosin staining indicated the development of degenerative changes in a dose-dependent manner. The results revealed that ATR exposure leads to renal fibrosis and that activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway plays a potential role in ATR-related renal fibrosis. Levels of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and TGF-β1 levels and the reactive oxygen species were significantly upregulated after ATR treatment. In conclusion, long-term exposure to ATR could cause kidney fibrosis, which is the result of epithelial-mesenchymal transition caused by inflammation and oxidative stress.