Exposure to p,p'-DDE Alters Macrophage Reactivity and Increases Macrophage Numbers in Adipose Stromal Vascular Fraction

Association of occupational exposure to pesticides with overweight in farmers in Southern Brazil

INTRODUCTION

Exposure to pesticides may be related to overweight and associated comorbidities. The aim of this work was to evaluate occupational exposure to pesticides, overweight and associated comorbidities among farmers in Southern Brazil.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included a random sample of 257 farmers, living in the municipality of Mafra and Planalto, southern Brazil. Data on pesticide use and overweight prevalence from farmers were collected using an in-person interview questionnaire, followed by blood collection and biochemical analyses.

RESULTS

Pesticide exposure was positively correlated with body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, triglycerides and glucose levels, presence of hypertension and metabolic syndrome. Besides that, the fact of being exposed to pesticides represents a decrease of no protein thiol groups. Furthermore, the main pesticides used by farmers have hepatic toxicity.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that exposure to pesticides may be associated with overweight and associated comorbidities. Further studies are required to validate our findings and elucidate the specific mechanisms by which these pollutants contribute to the development of overweight.

The p,p'-DDE disturbs the M1 function without affecting the M2 phenotype nor unstimulated bone marrow-derived macrophages from BALB/c mice

DDT, a persistent organic pollutant, remains affecting human health worldwide. DDT and its most persistent metabolite (p,p'-DDE) negatively affect the immune response regulation and mechanisms involved in protecting against pathogens Such metabolite decreases the capability to limit intracellular growth of Mycobacterium microti and yeast. However, the effect on unstimulated (M0) and anti-inflammatory macrophages (M2) has been evaluated scanty. Herein, we evaluated the impact of p,p'-DDE at environmentally relevant concentrations (0.125, 1.25, 2.5, and 5 µg/mL) on bone marrow-derived macrophages stimulated with IFNγ+LPS to M1 or with IL-4 +IL-13 to M2. Thus we study whether the p,p'-DDE induces M0 to a specific phenotype or modulates activation of the macrophage phenotypes and explains, at least partly, the reported effects of p,p'-DDE on the M1 function. The p,p'-DDE did not affect the cell viability of M0 or the macrophage phenotypes. In M1, the p,p'-DDE decreased NO•- production and IL-1β secretion, but increasing cellular ROS and mitochondrial O2•-, but did not alter iNOS, TNF-α, MHCII, and CD86 protein expression nor affect M2 markers arginase activity, TGF-β1, and CD206; p,p'-DDE, did not affect marker expression in M0 or M2, supporting that its effects on M1 parameters are not dependent on M0 nor M2 modulation. The decreasing of NO•- production by the p,p'-DDE without altering iNOS levels, Arginase activity, or TNF-α, but increasing cellular ROS and mitochondrial O2 suggests that p,p'-DDE interferes with the iNOS function but not with its transcription. The p,p'-DDE decreasing of IL-1β secretion, without any effect on TNF-α, suggest that an alteration of specific targets involved in IL-1β secretion may be affected and related to ROS induction. The p,p'-DDE effect on iNOS function and the IL-1β secretion process, as the NLRP3 activation, deserves further study.

1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-ethane (DDT) and 1,1-Dichloro-2,2-bis (p, p'-chlorophenyl) ethylene (DDE) as endocrine disruptors in human and wildlife: A possible implication of mitochondria

1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-ethane (DDT) and its main metabolite 1,1-Dichloro-2,2-bis (p, p'-chlorophenyl) ethylene (DDE) act as endocrine disruptors in humans and wildlife. Immunomodulatory functions have also been attributed to both xenobiotics. DDT was banned in the 1970s due to its toxicity, but it is still produced and used for indoor residual spraying with disease vector control purposes. Due to their persistence and lipophilic properties, DDT and DDE can bioaccumulate through the food chain, being stored in organisms' adipose depots. Their endocrine disruptor function is mediated by agonist or antagonist interaction with nuclear receptors. Present review aimed to provide an overview of how DDT and DDE exposure impacts reproductive and immune systems with estrogen-disrupting action in humans and wildlife. Studies showing DDT and DDE impact on mitochondrial function and apoptosis pathway will also be reviewed, suggesting the hypothesis of direct action on mitochondrial steroid receptors.

Inappropriately sweet: Environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals and the diabetes pandemic

Afflicting hundreds of millions of individuals globally, diabetes mellitus is a chronic disorder of energy metabolism characterized by hyperglycemia and other metabolic derangements that result in significant individual morbidity and mortality as well as substantial healthcare costs. Importantly, the impact of diabetes in the United States is not uniform across the population; rather, communities of color and those with low income are disproportionately affected. While excessive caloric intake, physical inactivity, and genetic susceptibility are undoubted contributors to diabetes risk, these factors alone fail to fully explain the rapid global rise in diabetes rates. Recently, environmental contaminants acting as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetes. Indeed, burgeoning data from cell-based, animal, population, and even clinical studies now indicate that a variety of structurally distinct EDCs of both natural and synthetic origin have the capacity to alter insulin secretion and action as well as global glucose homeostasis. This chapter reviews the evidence linking EDCs to diabetes risk across this spectrum of evidence. It is hoped that improving our understanding of the environmental drivers of diabetes development will illuminate novel individual-level and policy interventions to mitigate the impact of this devastating condition on vulnerable communities and the population at large.

Pesticides-induced energy metabolic disorders

Metabolic disorders have become a heavy burden on society. Recently, through excessive use, pesticides have been found to be present in environmental matrixes and sometimes even accumulate in humans or other mammals through the food chain, which then causes health concerns. Evidence has indicated that pesticides have the potential to induce energy metabolic disorders by disturbing the physical process of energy absorption in the intestine and energy storage in the liver, adipose tissue and skeletal muscle in humans or other mammals. In addition, the homeostasis of energy regulation by the pancreas and immune cells is also affected by pesticides. These pesticide-induced disruptions ultimately cause abnormal levels of blood glucose and lipids, which in turn induce the development of related metabolic diseases, including overweight, underweight, insulin resistance and even diabetes. In this review, the results of previous studies focused on the induction of metabolic disorders by pesticides are summarized. We hope that this work will facilitate the discovery of a potential strategy for the treatment of diseases caused by pesticides.

Environmental toxin exposure in polycystic ovary syndrome women and possible ovarian neoplastic repercussion

Purpose: Over the last two decades, increasing attention has been paid to environmental toxins and their effects on the female reproductive system. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are exogenous substances or mixtures that can mimic the action of steroid hormones and interfere with their metabolism. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are proinflammatory molecules that can interact with cell surface receptors and mediate the triggering of proinflammatory pathways and oxidative stress. The purpose of this review is to explore the effects of environmental toxin exposure in the pathogenesis of both polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and OC (ovarian cancer), considered separately, and also to evaluate possible neoplastic ovarian repercussion after exposure in patients diagnosed with PCOS.Materials and methods: We searched PubMed for articles published in the English language with the use of the following MeSH search terms: "polycystic ovary syndrome" and "ovarian cancer" combined with "endocrine disruptors". Titles and abstracts were examined and full articles that met the selection criteria were retrieved. A manual search of review articles and cross-references completed the search.Results: Extensive data from different studies collected in recent years concerning the effects of EDC/AGE exposure have confirmed their role in the pathophysiology of both PCOS and OC. They favor PCOS/OC development through different mechanisms that finally lead to hormonal and metabolic disruption and epigenetic modifications.Conclusions: Environmental toxin exposure in PCOS women could favor neoplastic transformation by exacerbating and potentiating some PCOS features. Further research, although difficult, is needed in order to prevent further diffusion of these substances in the environment, or at least to provide adequate information to the population considered at risk.

Alterations in macrophage phagocytosis and inflammatory tone following exposure to the organochlorine compounds oxychlordane and trans-nonachlor

The role of macrophages in the innate immune response cannot be underscored however recent studies have demonstrated that both resident and recruited macrophages have critical roles in the pathogenesis of metabolic dysfunction. Given the recent data implicating exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases, the current study was designed to examine the effects of the highly implicated organochlorine (OC) compounds oxychlordane and trans-nonachlor on overall macrophage function. Murine J774A.1 macrophages were exposed to trans-nonachlor or oxychlordane (0 - 20 µM) for 24 hours then phagocytosis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, mitochondrial membrane potential, caspase activities, pro-inflammatory cytokine production, and macrophage plasticity were assessed. Overall, exposure to oxychlordane significantly decreased macrophage phagocytosis while both OC compounds significantly increased ROS generation. Exposure to trans-nonachlor significantly increased secretion of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and interleukin-6 whereas oxychlordane had a biphasic effect on TNFα secretion. However, both oxychlordane and trans-nonachlor decreased basal expression of the M1 pro-inflammatory marker cyclooxygenase 2. Taken together, these data indicate that exposure to these two OC compounds have both compound and concentration dependent effects on macrophage function which may alter both the innate immune response and impact metabolic function of key organs involved in metabolic diseases.

Correlation of body mass index with serum DDTs predicts lower risk of breast cancer before the age of 50: prospective evidence in the Child Health and Development Studies

Many suspected breast cancer risk factors, including the pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolite dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), are stored in fat where they could influence carcinogenesis. We tested the hypothesis that the relationship of DDT and DDE (DDTs) with adiposity is modified by disposition to develop breast cancer. We predicted that concentrations of serum DDTs would be inversely correlated with body mass index (BMI) during active exposure when DDTs move into the larger fat pool. We described this correlation at an average of 17 years before breast cancer was diagnosed, in a prospective nested case-control study in the Child Health and Development Studies. Women entered the study during pregnancy from 1959 to 1966 when DDT was in active use. In total, 133 breast cancer cases were diagnosed under the age of 50 as of 1998. Mean time to diagnosis was 17 years. In total, 133 controls were matched to cases on birth year. We observed the expected inverse correlation of serum DDTs with BMI only in women who remained cancer-free and not in women who ultimately developed breast cancer (p for interaction < 0.05). Findings suggest that vulnerability to breast cancer before the age of 50 may be associated with an uncoupling of the inverse correlation between BMI and serum DDTs. Investigation into mechanisms may eventually reveal early biomarkers of breast cancer risk.

Prediagnostic serum organochlorine insecticide concentrations and primary liver cancer: A case-control study nested within two prospective cohorts

Although experimental evidence indicates that certain organochlorine insecticides are hepatocarcinogens, epidemiologic evidence for most of these chemicals is very limited. We estimated associations, using prospectively collected sera, between organochlorine insecticide concentrations and cancer registry-identified primary liver cancer in two cohorts, one from the United States and one from Norway. In nested case-control studies, we used sera collected in the 1960s-1980s from 136 cases and 408 matched controls from the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Multiphasic Health Checkup (MHC) cohort and 84 cases and 252 matched controls from the population-based Norwegian Janus cohort. We measured concentrations of nine organochlorine insecticides/metabolites and markers of hepatitis B and C in sera. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for tertiles of lipid-corrected organochlorines were calculated for each cohort using conditional logistic regression. Among MHC participants with sera from the 1960s, there was a suggestive exposure-response trend for trans-nonachlor (second and third tertile of analyte ORs = 1.63 and 1.95, respectively; p-trend = 0.08) and a nonsignificantly elevated risk for the highest tertile of oxychlordane (OR = 1.87). Among Janus participants with sera from the 1970s, we observed an apparent trend for p,p'-DDT (second and third tertile ORs = 1.70 and 2.14, respectively; p-trend = 0.15). We observed little consistency in patterns of association between the cohorts. We found limited evidence that exposure to p,p'-DDT and chlordane-related oxychlordane and trans-nonachlor may be associated with increased risk of primary liver cancer. However, the modest strength of these associations and their lack of concordance between cohorts necessitate caution in their interpretation.

REDOX proteomics reveals energy metabolism alterations in the liver of M. spretus mice exposed to p, p'-DDE

The toxicity induced by the pesticide 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1,-trichloroethane (DDT) and its derivative 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene (p,p'-DDE) has been associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation and respiratory chain electron transport, intracellular ion imbalance, generation of reactive oxygen species and impairment of the antioxidant defense system. A disruption in the cellular redox status causes protein Cys-based regulatory shifts that influence the activity of many proteins and trigger signal transduction alterations. Here, we analyzed the ability of p,p'-DDE to alter the activities of hepatic antioxidants and glycolytic enzymes to investigate the oxidative stress generation in the liver of p,p'-DDE-fed M. spretus mice. We also determined the consequences of the treatment on the redox status in the thiol Cys groups. The data indicate that the liver of p,p'-DDE exposed mice lacks certain protective enzymes, and p,p'-DDE caused a metabolic reprogramming that increased the glycolytic rate and disturbed the metabolism of lipids. Our results suggested that the overall metabolism of the liver was altered because important signaling pathways are controlled by p,p'-DDE-deregulated proteins. The histological data support the proposed metabolic consequences of the p,p'-DDE exposure.

Endocrine Disruptors Leading to Obesity and Related Diseases

The review aims to comprehensively present the impact of exposure to endocrine disruptors (EDs) in relation to the clinical manifestation of obesity and related diseases, including diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, carcinogenesis and infertility. EDs are strong participants in the obesity epidemic scenery by interfering with cellular morphological and biochemical processes; by inducing inflammatory responses; and by presenting transcriptional and oncogenic activity. Obesity and lipotoxicity enhancement occur through reprogramming and/or remodeling of germline epigenome by exposure to EDs. Specific population groups are vulnerable to ED exposure due to current dietary and environmental conditions. Obesity, morbidity and carcinogenicity induced by ED exposure are an evolving reality. Therefore, a new collective strategic approach is deemed essential, for the reappraisal of current global conditions pertaining to energy management.

Injectable SVF-loaded porcine extracellular matrix powders for adipose tissue engineering

This study provides a novel method in injectable tissue engineering which contains porcine extracellular matrix (ECM) powder scaffolds and stromal-vascular fraction (SVF) cells.