A Spanish study observed a correlation between prenatal exposure to different combinations of endocrine disruptors and the risk of metabolic syndrome in adulthood.
- Metabolic syndrome is a combination of several disorders including obesity, high blood pressure and insulin resistance.
- Prenatal exposure to various endocrine disruptors could induce poorer metabolic health during childhood, which could lead to an increased risk of metabolic syndrome in adulthood.
- Spanish researchers assessed prenatal exposure to 45 endocrine disruptors to obtain a risk index for metabolic syndrome.
Could prenatal exposure to various endocrine disruptors harm metabolic health and promote metabolic syndrome in adulthood? This is what a new Spanish study suggests, published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Assessment of prenatal exposure to 45 endocrine disruptors
To reach this conclusion, scientists from the Barcelona Research Institute (Spain) studied data from 1,134 mothers and their children who participated in the Human Early Life Exposome (HELIX) cohort. They assessed prenatal exposure to 45 endocrine disruptors using urine and blood samples taken during pregnancy or from the umbilical cord.
During the follow-up, the children, between the ages of six and eleven, completed a clinical examination, a medical interview and biological sample collections. The researchers thus collected information on the waist circumference, blood pressure, cholesterol and insulin levels of the young participants, in order to obtain a risk index for metabolic syndrome.
A link between endocrine disruptors and metabolic syndrome
Metabolic syndrome corresponds to the association of several disorders including obesity, hypertension and insulin resistance. Together, these factors can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
According to the findings of this research, prenatal exposure to mixtures of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), organochlorine pesticides and flame retardants was correlated with higher risks of metabolic syndrome in adulthood. “We also observed that associations were stronger in girls for mixtures of PFAS and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), while boys were more sensitive to exposure to parabens (…) Our results suggest that exposure to widespread mixtures of endocrine disruptors during pregnancy may be associated with adverse metabolic health in both boys and girls.”described Nuria Güil Oumrait, first author of the study and researcher at the Barcelona Research Institute.
