Metabolomic-based assessment reveals dysregulation of lipid profiles in human liver cells exposed to environmental obesogens.

Significant attention has been given to the potential of environmental chemicals to disrupt lipid homeostasis at the cellular level. These chemicals, classified as obesogens, are abundantly used in a wide variety of consumer products. However, there is a significant lack of information regarding the mechanisms by which environmental exposure can contribute to the onset of obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Several studies have described the interaction of potential obesogens with lipid-related peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR). However, no studies have quantified the degree of modification to lipidomic profiles in relevant human models, making it difficult to directly link PPAR agonists to the onset of lipid-related diseases. A quantitative metabolomic approach was used to examine the dysregulation of lipid metabolism in human liver cells upon exposure to potential obesogenic compounds. The chemicals rosiglitazone, perfluorooctanoic acid, di-2-ethylexylphthalate, and tributyltin significantly increased total lipids in liver cells, being diglycerides, triglycerides and phosphatidylcholines the most prominent. Contrarily, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and the pharmaceutical fenofibrate appeared to lower total lipid concentrations, especially those belonging to the acylcarnitine, ceramide, triglyceride, and phosphatidylcholine groups. Fluorescence microscopy analysis for cellular neutral lipids revealed significant lipid bioaccumulation upon exposure to obesogens at environmentally relevant concentrations. This integrated omics analysis provides unique mechanistic insight into the potential of these environmental pollutants to promote diseases like obesity and NAFLD. Furthermore, this study provides a significant contribution to advance the understanding of molecular signatures related to obesogenic chemicals and to the development of alternatives to in vivo experimentation.

Altered expression and activity of phase I and II biotransformation enzymes in human liver cells by perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS).

Human exposure assessments for perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) have been mostly limited to the quantification of these chemicals in different environmental matrices, but only a few studies have addressed toxicological aspects associated with them. It has been suggested that both PFOA and PFOS are highly stable chemicals that are not metabolized, yet previous reports have described abnormal activity of important biotransformation pathways. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to investigate the effects of PFOA and PFOS on phase I and II biotransformation enzymes at the gene expression and activity levels, and by using the well-established human liver HepaRG cell line. Cells were exposed to a wide range of PFOA and PFOS concentrations for 24 or 48 h, prior to cytotoxicity measurements, and quantification of expression and activity of three cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYP1A2, CYP2C19 and CYP3A4) and two conjugation enzymes (glutathione-S-transferase (GST-M1) and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT-1A1)). Expression of all CYP enzymes was significantly reduced from exposure to both PFOA and PFOS after 48 h and from concentrations as low as 40-50 ng/L, with CYP3A4 also presenting the lowest activity. Among the conjugation enzymes, the expression of UGT was significantly reduced only by PFOA after 48 h of exposure, yet no significant alterations in its activity were observed. While the specific chemico-biological interactions of these compounds with gene expression and biotransformation pathways is not clear, the results from this study suggest that the interference of PFOA and PFOS with phase I and II biotransformation enzymes could potentially lead to adverse outcomes resulting from the inability of biotransformation pathways to function as needed.