Children exposed to endocrine disruptors are hypothesized to be susceptible for cancer development later in life. Identifying functional biomarkers of specific exposures may indicate predisposition for this disease. The objectives of this study were to identify protein biomarkers of 1) effect and 2) susceptibility for cancer from the blood of girls exposed to select environmental chemicals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) involves significant changes in liver metabolism characterized by oxidative stress, lipid accumulation and fibrogenesis. Mitochondrial dysfunction and bioenergetic defects also contribute to NAFLD. In the present study, we examined whether differences in mtDNA influence NAFLD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHumans are exposed to an array of chemicals via the food, drink and air, including a significant number that can mimic endogenous hormones. One such chemical is Bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic chemical that has been shown to cause developmental alterations and to predispose for mammary cancer in rodent models. In contrast, the phytochemical genistein has been reported to suppress chemically induced mammary cancer in rodents, and Asians ingesting a diet high in soy containing genistein have lower incidence of breast and prostate cancers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol
February 2014
Chronic ethanol consumption increases sensitivity of the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) pore induction in liver. Ca(2+) promotes MPT pore opening, and genetic ablation of cyclophilin D (CypD) increases the Ca(2+) threshold for the MPT. We used wild-type (WT) and CypD-null (CypD(-/-)) mice fed a control or an ethanol-containing diet to investigate the role of the MPT in ethanol-mediated liver injury.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThrough our diet, we are exposed to numerous natural and man-made chemicals, including polyphenols with hormone-like properties. The most abundant hormonally active polyphenols are characterized as weak estrogens. These chemicals are hypothesized to interfere with signaling pathways involved in important diseases such as breast cancer, which in most cases is initially estrogen dependent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic alcohol consumption results in hepatotoxicity, steatosis, hypoxia, increased expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and decreased activities of mitochondrial respiratory enzymes. The impact of these changes on cellular respiration and their interaction in a cellular setting is not well understood. In the present study we tested the hypothesis that nitric oxide (NO)-dependent modulation of cellular respiration and the sensitivity to hypoxic stress is increased following chronic alcohol consumption.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Steroid Biochem Mol Biol
April 2012
Endocrine-active chemicals alter or mimic physiological hormones. These compounds are reported to originate from a wide variety of sources, and recent studies have shown widespread human exposure to several of these compounds. Given the role of the sex steroid hormone, estradiol, in human breast cancer causation, endocrine-active chemicals which interfere with estrogen signaling constitute one potential factor contributing to the high incidence of breast cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHorm Mol Biol Clin Investig
March 2011
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a synthetically made chemical used in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Recent studies have shown over ninety percent of humans investigated have detectable BPA concentrations. Yet, the biggest concern for BPA is exposure during early development because BPA has been shown to bind to the estrogen receptors (ER) and cause developmental and reproductive toxicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenistein, the primary isoflavone component of soy, consumed in diet during the prepubertal period suppresses chemically induced mammary cancer in rats. The current study used two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE)/MS-based proteomic technology to identify proteins responsible for genistein breast cancer protection In Vivo. Female offspring were exposed via lactating dams treated with 250 mg genistein/kg AIN-76A diet from days 1 to 21 postpartum (prepubertal period).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObesity-related pathologies, such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, are linked to mitochondrial dysfunction and nitric oxide (NO) deficiency. Herein, we tested the hypothesis that a high-fat diet (HFD) modifies the liver mitochondrial proteome and alters proteins involved in NO metabolism, namely arginase 1 and endothelial NO synthase. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed a control or HFD and liver mitochondria were isolated for proteomics and reactive oxygen species measurements.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Bisphenol A (BPA) is a ubiquitous environmental chemical with reported endocrine-disrupting properties.
Objective: Our goal in this study was to determine whether prenatal exposure to BPA predisposes the adult rat mammary gland to carcinogenesis.
Methods: Pregnant rats were treated orally with 0, 25, or 250 microg BPA/kg body weight (BW) from gestation day (GD) 10 to GD21.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant with established endocrine disruptor properties. The objective of our study was to determine the effects of prenatal exposure to BPA on the rat mammary gland proteome in postnatal rats as a first step toward the investigation of translational biomarkers of susceptibility in the human population. Pregnant rats were treated orally with 0, 25 or 250 microg BPA/kg body weight from days 10 to 21 post-conception.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExposure to either chlorpyrifos (CPS) or methyl parathion (MPS) results in the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase and leads to altered neuronal activity which normally regulates critical genes such as the neurotrophins nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The effects of postnatal exposure to CPS and MPS on the expression of messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels for NGF and BDNF were investigated in the frontal cerebral cortex (cortex) and hippocampus of rats. Oral administration of CPS (4.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChlorpyrifos (CPS), a known neurotoxicant, is a widely used agricultural organophosphorus insecticide. The effects of postnatal exposure to CPS on the expression of mRNA for two factors critical to brain development, nerve growth factor (NGF) and reelin, were investigated in the forebrain of rats. In addition, the expression of mRNA for the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) M(1) subtype and cell-specific markers for developing neurons (beta-III tubulin), astrocytes (glial fibrillary acidic protein, GFAP), and oligodendrocytes (myelin-associated glycoprotein, MAG) was also investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChlorpyrifos (CPS) is a widely used diethyl organophosphorus insecticide in agricultural settings. Household and urinary residue analysis has suggested that children in agricultural communities are at risk of exposure to diethyl organophosphorus insecticides. The effects of repeated postnatal exposure to CPS and its metabolite chlorpyrifos-oxon (CPO) on total muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) binding, nerve growth factor (NGF) levels, and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in the forebrain of neonatal rats were investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Toxicol Environ Health A
November 2003
Bisphenol A (BPA), an environmental estrogen, is a component of many food and beverage containers and can leach into the container contents over time. Due to its estrogenic properties, exposure to BPA during development could alter the appropriate maturation of pathways essential for normal cognitive function at later ages. To investigate this, the effects of repeated postnatal exposure of male and female rats to BPA on spatial learning and memory were investigated using a Morris water maze.
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