Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: An Occult Mediator of Metabolic Disease

Abstract

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), a heterogeneous group of exogenous chemicals that can interfere with any aspect of endogenous hormones, represent an emerging global threat for human metabolism. There is now considerable evidence that the observed upsurge of metabolic disease cannot be fully attributed to increased caloric intake, physical inactivity, sleep deficit, and ageing. Among environmental factors implicated in the global deterioration of metabolic health, EDCs have drawn the biggest attention of scientific community, and not unjustifiably. EDCs unleash a coordinated attack toward multiple components of human metabolism, including crucial, metabolically-active organs such as hypothalamus, adipose tissue, pancreatic beta cells, skeletal muscle, and liver. Specifically, EDCs' impact during critical developmental windows can promote the disruption of individual or multiple systems involved in metabolism, via inducing epigenetic changes that can permanently alter the epigenome in the germline, enabling changes to be transmitted to the subsequent generations. The clear effect of this multifaceted attack is the manifestation of metabolic disease, clinically expressed as obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Although limitations of EDCs research do exist, there is no doubt that EDCs constitute a crucial parameter of the global deterioration of metabolic health we currently encounter.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus; endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC); enviromental chemicals; environmental contaminants; human metabolism; insulin resistance; obesity; obesogens.

Figure 1

Historical landmarks in the field of EDCs Research.

Figure 2

A pregnant mother's exposure to the environment can inadvertently introduce EDCs into the exquisitely calibrated hormonal milieu of the embryo.

Figure 3

EDCs, acting in parallel with traditional metabolic risk factors, unleash a coordinated attack toward every crucial component of human metabolism, leading ultimately to the manifestation of metabolic disease.