DES exposure effects in mouse models replicate human findings
Abstract from “EDC-2: The Endocrine Society’s Second Scientific Statement on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals”, 2015
Obesity requires eating more food and/or consuming less energy. To date, most of the obesity studies in animals are based in the observation that EDC exposures induce weight increases and changes in adiposity, as well as affecting hormones and adipokines involved in the regulation of food intake and energy expenditure. There are fewer studies related to how EDCs disrupt energy balance. Therefore, more studies are necessary to gain mechanistic insights into the role that EDCs play in the etiology of obesity.
Studies of rodents that were prenatally, neonatally, or perinatally exposed to EDCs support the obesogen hypothesis. For example, DES exposure effects in mouse models replicate human findings. DES is an estrogenic chemical that binds with high affinity to the ERs, ERα and ERβ, which play an important role in adiposity regulation as well as central and peripheral energy balance. Developmental exposure to DES in mice induced adipogenesis and caused mice to become obese or overweight.
Other chemicals classified as environmental estrogens, particularly BPA, produced similar effects. Perinatal exposure to low doses of BPA caused increased body weight; adiposity; alterations in blood levels of insulin, leptin, and adiponectin; as well as a decrease in glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in an age-dependent manner.
References
- Full study (free access) : EDC-2: The Endocrine Society’s Second Scientific Statement on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals, Endocrine Society endocrine reviews, article/36/6/E1/2354691, 01 December 2015.
- Image credit academic.oup figure/59030995.