Consensus on the key characteristics of metabolism disruptors.

Metabolism-disrupting agents (MDAs) are chemical, infectious or physical agents that increase the risk of metabolic disorders. Examples include pharmaceuticals, such as antidepressants, and environmental agents, such as bisphenol A. Various types of studies can provide evidence to identify MDAs, yet a systematic method is needed to integrate these data to help to identify such hazards.

Tributyltin Enhances Macrophage Inflammation and Lipolysis, Contributing to Adipose Tissue Dysfunction.

Tributyltin (TBT) is a synthetic chemical widely used in industrial and commercial applications. TBT exposure has been proven to elicit obesogenic effects. Gestational exposure led to increased white adipose tissue depot size in exposed (F1, F2) animals and in unexposed generations (F3, F4), an example of transgenerational inheritance.

Heritable changes in chromatin contacts linked to transgenerational obesity.

Burgeoning evidence demonstrates that effects of environmental exposures can be transmitted to subsequent generations through the germline without DNA mutations. This phenomenon remains controversial because underlying mechanisms have not been identified. Therefore, understanding how effects of environmental exposures are transmitted to unexposed generations without DNA mutations is a fundamental unanswered question in biology.