Bisphenol A (BPA), a widely used environmental endocrine disruptor, has been reported to disrupt glucose homeostasis. BPA exposure may be a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. In this study, we investigated the effects of early-life BPA exposure on metabolic syndrome in rat offspring fed a normal diet and a high-fat diet. Pregnant Wistar rats were exposed to BPA (50, 250, or 1250 μg/kg · d) or corn oil throughout gestation and lactation by oral gavage. Offspring were fed a normal diet or a high-fat diet after weaning. Body weight, parameters of glucose and lipid metabolism, morphology, and function of β-cells were measured in offspring. On a normal diet, perinatal exposure to 50 μg/kg · d BPA resulted in increased body weight, elevated serum insulin, and impaired glucose tolerance in adult offspring. On a high-fat diet, such detrimental effects were accelerated and exacerbated. Furthermore, severe metabolic syndrome, including obesity, dyslipidemia, hyperleptindemia, hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and glucose intolerance, was observed in high-fat-fed offspring perinatally exposed to 50 μg/kg · d BPA. No adverse effect of perinatal BPA exposure at 250 and 1250 μg/kg · d was observed no matter on a normal diet or a high-fat diet. These results suggest that perinatal exposure to BPA at reference dose, but not at high dose, impairs glucose tolerance in adult rat offspring on a normal diet and predisposes offspring to metabolic syndrome at adult on a high-fat diet. High-fat diet intake is a trigger that initiates adverse metabolic effects of BPA.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) may cross the placental barrier and lead to fetal exposure. However, little is known about the factors that influence maternal-fetal transfer of these chemicals. PFAS concentrations were analyzed in 100 paired samples of human maternal sera collected in each trimester and cord sera at delivery; these samples were collected in Wuhan, China, 2014. Linear regression was used to estimate associations of transfer efficiencies with factors. Chlorinated polyfluorinated ether sulfonates (Cl-PFAESs, 6:2 and 8:2) were frequently detected (>99%) in maternal and cord sera. A significant decline in PFAS levels during the three trimesters was observed. A U-shape trend for transfer efficiency with increasing chain length was observed for both carboxylates and sulfonates. Higher transfer efficiencies of PFASs were associated with advancing maternal age, higher education, and lower glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Cord serum albumin was a positive factors for higher transfer efficiency (increased 1.1-4.1% per 1g/L albumin), whereas maternal serum albumin tended to reduce transfer efficiency (decreased 2.4-4.3% per 1g/L albumin). Our results suggest that exposure to Cl-PFAESs may be widespread in China. The transfer efficiencies among different PFASs were structure-dependent. Physiological factors (e.g., GFR and serum albumin) were observed for the first time to play critical roles in PFAS placental transfer.

Screening for tumor suppressor genes in breast cancer revealed multiple truncating mutations of PB1, which encodes the BAF180 subunit of the PBAF chromatin remodeling complex. Mutation was associated with loss of heterozygosity of the wild-type allele.

-Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a typical endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC), is widely used as plasticizer. DEHP exposure in humans is virtually ubiquitous, and those undergoing certain medical procedures can be especially high. In this study, we investigated whether developmental DEHP exposure disrupted glucose homeostasis in the rat and whether this was associated with the early impairment in endocrine pancreas. Pregnant Wistar rats were administered DEHP (1.25 and 6.25 mg·kg(-1)·day(-1)) or corn oil throughout gestation and lactation by oral gavage. Body weight, glucose and insulin tolerance, and β-cell morphometry and function were examined in offspring during the growth. In this study, developmental DEHP exposure led to abnormal β-cell ultrastructure, reduced β-cell mass, and pancreatic insulin content as well as alterations in the expression of genes involved in pancreas development and β-cell function in offspring at weaning. At adulthood, female DEHP-exposed offspring exhibited elevated blood glucose, reduced serum insulin, impaired glucose tolerance, and insulin secretion. Male DEHP-exposed offspring had increased serum insulin, although there were no significant differences in blood glucose at fasting and during glucose tolerance test. In addition, both male and female DEHP-exposed offspring had significantly lower birth weight and maintained relatively lower body weight up to 27 wk of age. These results suggest that developmental exposure to DEHP gives rise to β-cell dysfunction and the whole body glucometabolic abnormalities in the rat. DEHP exposure in critical periods of development can be a potential risk factor, at least in part, for developing diabetes.

BackgroundA growing body of evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in cancer diagnosis and therapy. MicroRNA-99a (miR-99a), a potential tumor suppressor, is downregulated in several human malignancies. The expression and function of miR-99a, however, have not been investigated in human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) so far. We therefore examined the expression of miR-99a in RCC cell lines and tissues, and assessed the impact of miR-99a on the tumorigenesis of RCC.MethodsMiR-99a levels in 40 pairs of RCC and matched adjacent non-tumor tissues were assessed by real-time quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). The RCC cell lines 786-O and OS-RC-2 were transfected with miR-99a mimics to restore the expression of miR-99a. The effects of miR-99a were then assessed by cell proliferation, cell cycle, transwell, and colony formation assay. A murine xenograft model of RCC was used to confirm the effect of miR-99a on tumorigenicity in vivo. Potential target genes were identified by western blotting and luciferase reporter assay.ResultsWe found that miR-99a was remarkably downregulated in RCC and low expression level of miR-99a was correlated with poor survival of RCC patients. Restoration of miR-99a dramatically suppressed RCC cells growth, clonability, migration and invasion as well as induced G1-phase cell cycle arrest in vitro. Moreover, intratumoral delivery of miR-99a could inhibit tumor growth in murine xenograft models of human RCC. In addition, we also fond that mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) was a direct target of miR-99a in RCC cells. Furthermore, siRNA-mediated knockdown of mTOR partially phenocopied the effect of miR-99a overexpression, suggesting that the tumor suppressive role of miR-99a may be mediated primarily through mTOR regulation.ConclusionsCollectively, these results demonstrate for the first time, to our knowledge, that deregulation of miR-99a is involved in the etiology of RCC partially via direct targeting mTOR pathway, which suggests that miR-99a may offer an attractive new target for diagnostic and therapeutic intervention in RCC.