Pyrethroid pesticides are designed to have a significant harmful
effect on biological systems of organisms in ecosystem. It is crucial
to understand and identify the toxic effect of pyrethroid pesticides
in soil, especially under long-term low-concentrations exposure.
The Induction of CYP3A4 by exogenous compounds metabolism
may serve as a useful tool. In our previously studies we have
established the method for measurement of p450 and CYP3A4 in
worms [20,21], and our further investigation showed that CYP3A4
in earthworm could be induced by heavy metals at low levels [21],
which proved the presence and response of cytochrome P450 specific
families in soil invertebrates, and made it possible to select
CYP3A4 enzyme as a potential biomarker to diagnose the toxicity
of pyrethriods pesticides in soil.