New publication: administering hormones affects DNA
In pigs, endocrine disruptors can alter gene expression in a way that also affects the next generation. This has been shown by a recently published study conducted by our team in collaboration with scientists from the Technical University of Munich. The study findings could potentially apply to humans, too.
Estrogenic endocrine disruptive chemicals (EDC) are ubiquitous in the environment. An exposure during pregnancy can affect the epigenome of the embryo which might have long-lasting detrimental health effects. In a large animal model, we analyzed embryos of orally exposed pregnant sows. We found that estrogen concentrations below the level which is currently considered as safe for humans altered the DNA methylation of genes involved in cell proliferation. We therefore propose to reconsider “low dose” and include epigenetics as a novel parameter for risk assessment analysis.
Read the article on ETH News here
Van der Weijden VA, Flöter VL, Ulbrich SE. Gestational oral low-dose estradiol-17β induces altered DNA methylation of CDKN2D and PSAT1 in embryos and adult offspring. Scientific Reports (2018) 8:7494. DOI:external page10.1038/s41598-018-25831-9call_made