Organizational effects of perinatal exposure to bisphenol-A and diethylstilbestrol on arcuate nucleus circuitry controlling food intake and energy expenditure in male and female CD-1 mice.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Bench or animal research
PubMed 23493373 · doi:10.1210/en.2012-2044
What was done
Pregnant and lactating CD-1 mouse dams were fed diets containing low or high doses of bisphenol-A (BPA), resulting in average prenatal maternal intakes of 0.19 and 3.49 µg/kg/day and postnatal intakes of 0.36 and 7.2 µg/kg/day. Male and female offspring were weaned onto a normal diet and then challenged in adulthood with either a normal diet or a high-fat diet (HFD). Metabolic parameters and hypothalamic energy balance circuitry were assessed in adult offspring.
What was found
Aside from maternal dosage quantities, the abstract reports no numerical values, variances, or effect sizes. Directional findings include: - Males exposed to the high BPA dose showed impaired glucose tolerance on both normal and high-fat diets, reduced proopiomelanocortin (POMC) fiber innervation into the paraventricular nucleus, and elevated neuropeptide Y and Agouti-related peptide expression in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) when fed an HFD. - Females exposed to the high BPA dose fed an HFD showed increased body weight, food intake, adiposity, and leptin concentrations, paired with decreased ARC POMC mRNA expression and a male-like ARC estrogen receptor alpha expression pattern.
Why it matters
This study demonstrates that early-life exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of BPA permanently reorganizes hypothalamic appetite-regulating circuits, increasing susceptibility to metabolic impairment and obesity in a sex-dependent manner.
Limits
The study was conducted in mice, limiting direct translation to human health. The abstract does not provide sample sizes (n), quantitative data, or precision estimates. Although diethylstilbestrol is listed in the title, no data or findings regarding it are reported in the abstract.
Cited by
- contradicts Chemicals such as diethylstilbestrol and bisphenol A (BPA) have been shown to promote adipose tissue expansion independent of changes in caloric intake.