Multiomics analyses reveal dose-dependent effects of dicofol exposure on host metabolic homeostasis and the gut microbiota in mice.

Background: Environmental exposure to dicofol (DCF), one of common organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) widely used for controlling agricultural pests, elicits a potential risk for human health due to its toxicity. However, potential physiological hazards of oral DCF exposure remain largely unknown.

Methods: Mice were exposed to relatively chronic and subacute DCF at different doses (5, 20 and 100 mg/kg) by gavage for 2 weeks. H NMR-based metabolomics was used to explore alterations of metabolic profiling induced by DCF exposure. Targeted metabolomics was subsequently employed to investigate the dose-dependent effects of oral DCF exposure on lipid metabolism and the gut microbiota-derived metabolites of mice. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was further employed to evaluate the changes of gut community of mice exposed to DCF.

Results: Oral exposure to DCF dose-dependently induced liver injury, manifested by hepatic lipogenesis, inflammation and liver dysfunction of mice. Typically, DCF exposure disrupted host fatty acids metabolism that were confirmed by marked alteration in the levels of related genes. DCF exposure also dose-dependently caused dysbiosis of the gut bacteria and its metabolites including altered microbial composition accompanied by inhibition of bacterial fermentation.

Conclusion: These results provide metabolic evidence that DCF exposure dose-dependently induces liver lipidosis and disruption of the gut microbiota in mice, which enrich our views of molecular mechanism of DCF hepatoxicity.