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Gaspari L, Soyer-Gobillard MO, Kerlin S, Paris F, Sultan C. Early Female Transgender Identity after Prenatal Exposure to Diethylstilbestrol: Report from a French National Diethylstilbestrol (DES) Cohort. J Xenobiot 2024; 14:166-175. [PMID: 38249107 PMCID: PMC10801508 DOI: 10.3390/jox14010010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2023] [Revised: 01/08/2024] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 01/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Diagnostic of transsexualism and gender incongruence are terms to describe individuals whose self-identity does not match their sex assignment at birth. A transgender woman is an individual assigned male at birth (AMAB) on the basis of the external or internal genitalia who identifies and lives as a woman. In recent decades, a significant increase in the number of transgender people has been reported. Although, its etiology is unknown, biological, anatomical, genetic, environmental and cultural factors have been suggested to contribute to gender variation. In XY animals, it has been shown that environmental endocrine disruptors, through their anti-androgenic activity, induce a female identity. In this work, we described four XY individuals who were exposed in utero to the xenoestrogen diethylstilbesterol (DES) and were part of the French HHORAGES cohort. They all reported a female transgender identity starting from childhood and adolescence. This high prevalence of male to female transgenderism (1.58%) in our cohort of 253 DES sons suggests that exposure to chemicals with xenoestrogen activity during fetal life may affect the male sex identity and behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Gaspari
- Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, CHU Montpellier, University Montpellier, 34090 Montpellier, France; (L.G.); (F.P.)
- INSERM 1203, Développement Embryonnaire Fertilité Environnement, University of Montpellier, 34295 Montpellier, France
- CHU Montpellier, University Montpellier, Centre de Référence Maladies Rares du Développement Génital, Constitutif Sud, Hôpital Lapeyronie, 34295 Montpellier, France
| | - Marie-Odile Soyer-Gobillard
- Laboratoire Arago, Observatoire Océanologique, Sorbonne University, CNRS, 75016 Paris, France;
- Association HHORAGES-France, 66100 Perpignan, France
| | - Scott Kerlin
- DES International Information and Research Network, Livermore, CA 94551, USA;
| | - Françoise Paris
- Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, CHU Montpellier, University Montpellier, 34090 Montpellier, France; (L.G.); (F.P.)
- INSERM 1203, Développement Embryonnaire Fertilité Environnement, University of Montpellier, 34295 Montpellier, France
- CHU Montpellier, University Montpellier, Centre de Référence Maladies Rares du Développement Génital, Constitutif Sud, Hôpital Lapeyronie, 34295 Montpellier, France
| | - Charles Sultan
- Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, CHU Montpellier, University Montpellier, 34090 Montpellier, France; (L.G.); (F.P.)
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Soyer-Gobillard MO, Gaspari L, Paris F, Courtet P, Sultan C. Effects of prenatal exposure to synthetic sex hormones on neurodevelopment: a biological mechanism. Front Mol Neurosci 2023; 16:1237429. [PMID: 38025263 PMCID: PMC10666627 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2023.1237429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Since the middle of the 20th century, synthetic sex hormones (estrogens and progestins) have been administered to millions of pregnant or not women worldwide, mainly to avoid miscarriage or for comfort, although their mode of action and their effects on the mother and fetus were ignored. Despite the alerts and the description of somatic and psychiatric disorders in children exposed in utero, synthetic estrogens were prohibited for pregnant women only in the 1970s and 1980s, but some progestins are still authorized. In this review, we summarize the psychiatric disorders described in children exposed in utero to such hormones, focusing particularly on schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, severe depression, eating disorders, suicide and suicide attempts. Moreover, only in 2017 the mechanism of action of these xenohormones has started to be deciphered. Some studies showed that in the fetus exposed in utero, they alter the DNA methylation profile (mainly hypermethylation), and consequently the expression of genes implicated in neurodevelopment and in regulating the sexual organ morphogenesis and also of the promoter of estrogen receptors, located in the amygdala. These deleterious effects may be transmitted also to the next generations, thus affecting the children directly exposed and also the following generations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Laura Gaspari
- Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, Service de Pédiatrie, CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
- Centre de Référence Maladies Rares du Développement Génital, Constitutif Sud, Hôpital Lapeyronie, CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
- INSERM 1203, Développement Embryonnaire Fertilité Environnement, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Françoise Paris
- Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, Service de Pédiatrie, CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
- Centre de Référence Maladies Rares du Développement Génital, Constitutif Sud, Hôpital Lapeyronie, CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
- INSERM 1203, Développement Embryonnaire Fertilité Environnement, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Philippe Courtet
- IGF, Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, INSERM, Montpellier, France
- Department of Emergency Psychiatry and Acute Care, Lapeyronie Hospital, CHU Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Charles Sultan
- Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, Service de Pédiatrie, CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
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Raj Shekhar B, Rupani K, Raghunath Parkar S, Sunil Nayak A, Vasant Kumbhar B, Khare SP, Menon S, Gawde H, Kumar Das D. Identifying Novel Risk Conferring Genes Involved in Glycosylation Processes with Familial Schizophrenia in an Indian Cohort: Prediction of ADAMTS9 gene Variant for Structural Stability. Gene 2023; 872:147443. [PMID: 37105505 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2023.147443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Revised: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder and heritability is as high as 80% making it the most heritable mental disorder. Although GWAS has identified numerous variants, the pathophysiology is still elusive. Here, an attempt was made to identify genetic risk factors in familial cases of schizophrenia that are associated with a common causative pathway. To achieve this objective, exome sequencing was done in 4 familial cases and identified six unique coding variants in five genes. Among these genes, PIGQ gene has two pathogenic variants, one nonsense and in-frame deletion. One missense variant in GALNT16 and one in GALNT5 have variable damaging score, however, the other variants, in ADAMTS9 and in LTBP4 have the highest damaging score. Further analysis showed that the variant of LTBP4 was not present in the functional domain. The other missense variant in the ADAMTS9 gene was found to be significant and was present in the thrombospondin repeat motif, one of the important motifs. Detailed molecular dynamics simulation study on this variant showed a damaging effect on structural stability. Since, all these genes culminated into the glycosylation process, it was evident that an aberrant glycosylation process may be one of the risk factors. Although, extracellular matrix formation through glycosylation have been shown to be associated, the involvement of ADAMTS9 and PIGQ gene mediated glycosylation has not been reported. In this paper, a novel link between ADAMTS9 and PIGQ gene with schizophrenia have been reported. Therefore, this novel observation has contributed immensely to the existing knowledge on risk factor of Schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bipin Raj Shekhar
- Genetic Research Centre, ICMR-National Institute for Research in Reproductive and Child Health, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra-400012, India; Stem Cell Biology, ICMR-National Institute for Research in Reproductive and Child Health, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra-400012, India
| | - Karishma Rupani
- Department of Psychiatry, Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra-400012, India
| | - Shubhangi Raghunath Parkar
- Department of Psychiatry, Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra-400012, India
| | - Ajita Sunil Nayak
- Department of Psychiatry, Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra-400012, India
| | - Bajarang Vasant Kumbhar
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sunandan Divatia School of Science, NMIMS University (Deemed), Mumbai, Maharashtra-400012, India
| | - Satyajeet P Khare
- Symbiosis School of Biological Sciences, Symbiosis International University, Pune, Maharashtra-412115, India
| | - Shyla Menon
- Stem Cell Biology, ICMR-National Institute for Research in Reproductive and Child Health, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra-400012, India
| | - Harshavardhan Gawde
- Genetic Research Centre, ICMR-National Institute for Research in Reproductive and Child Health, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra-400012, India
| | - Dhanjit Kumar Das
- Stem Cell Biology, ICMR-National Institute for Research in Reproductive and Child Health, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra-400012, India.
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Soyer-Gobillard MO, Gaspari L, Courtet P, Sultan C. Diethylstilbestrol and autism. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2022; 13:1034959. [PMID: 36479217 PMCID: PMC9720308 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1034959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
It is acknowledged that diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic diphenol with powerful estrogenic properties, causes structural anomalies of the reproductive tract and increases the risk of cancer and genital malformations in children and grandchildren of mothers treated during pregnancy. Conversely, data on DES effects on neurodevelopment and psychiatric disorders in in-utero exposed children and their descendants are rare, especially concerning Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Recent studies presented in this review strengthen the hypothesis that in-utero exposure to DES and also other synthetic estrogens and progestogens, which all are endocrine disruptors, contributes to the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders, especially ASD. A large epidemiological study in the USA in 2010 reported severe depression in in-utero exposed children (n=1,612), and a French cohort study (n=1,002 in-utero DES exposed children) in 2016 found mainly bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, major depression, suicide attempts, and suicide. Few publications described ASD in in-utero exposed children, mainly a Danish cohort study and a large Chinese epidemiological study. Molecular studies on endocrine disruptors demonstrated the transgenerational induction of diseases and DES epigenetic impact (DNA methylation changes) at two genes implicated in neurodevelopment (ZFP57 and ADAM TS9). We recently described in an informative family, somatic and psychiatric disorders in four generations, particularly ASD in boys of the third and fourth generation. These data show that the principle of precaution must be retained for the protection of future generations: women (pregnant or not) should be extremely vigilant about synthetic hormones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie-Odile Soyer-Gobillard
- Univ Sorbonne, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris, France
- Association Halte aux HORmones Artificielles pour les GrossessES (Hhorages)-France, Perpignan, France
| | - Laura Gaspari
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Montpellier: Univ Montpellier, Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, Service de Pédiatrie, Montpellier, France
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Montpellier: Univ Montpellier, Centre de Référence Maladies Rares du Développement Génital, Constitutif Sud, Hôpital Lapeyronie, Montpellier, France
- Univ Montpellier, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (Inserm) 1203, Développement Embryonnaire Fertilité Environnement, Montpellier, France
| | - Philippe Courtet
- Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle (IGF), Univ. Montpellier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (Inserm), Montpellier, France
- Department of Emergency Psychiatry and Acute Care, Lapeyronie Hospital, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Charles Sultan
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Montpellier: Univ Montpellier, Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, Service de Pédiatrie, Montpellier, France
- *Correspondence: Charles Sultan,
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Prenatal Exposure to Diethylstilbestrol and Multigenerational Psychiatric Disorders: An Informative Family. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18199965. [PMID: 34639263 PMCID: PMC8507930 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18199965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2021] [Revised: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Psychiatric disorders in children exposed in utero to diethylstilbestrol (DES) are still debated. We report here the impact of DES prescribed to suppress lactation on the children born after such treatment and their progeny, focusing particularly on psychiatric disorders. CASE PRESENTATION We report here an informative family in which one or more psychiatric problems (e.g., bipolarity, suicide attempts and suicide, eating disorders) were detected in all children of second-generation (DES-exposed children; n = 9), but for II-2 who died at the age of 26 years due to rupture of a congenital brain aneurysm, and were associated with non-psychiatric disorders (particularly, endometriosis and hypospadias). In the third generation, 10 out of 19 DES-exposed grandchildren had psychiatric disorders (autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, dyspraxia and learning disabilities, mood and behavioral disorders, and eating disorders), often associated with comorbidities. In the fourth generation (7 DES-exposed great-grandchildren, aged between 0 and 18 years), one child had dyspraxia and autism spectrum disorder. The first daughter of the second generation (not exposed to DES) and her children and grandchildren did not have any psychiatric symptoms or comorbidities. CONCLUSIONS To our knowledge, the high prevalence of psychiatric disorders of various severities in two, and likely three generations, including DES-free pregnancies and DES-exposed pregnancies from the same family, has never been reported. This work strengthens the hypothesis that in utero exposure to DES contributes to the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders. It also highlights a multigenerational, and possibly transgenerational, effect of DES in neurodevelopment and psychiatric disorders.
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Gaspari L, Soyer-Gobillard MO, Paris F, Kalfa N, Hamamah S, Sultan C. Multigenerational endometriosis : consequence of fetal exposure to diethylstilbestrol ? Environ Health 2021; 20:96. [PMID: 34452632 PMCID: PMC8401160 DOI: 10.1186/s12940-021-00780-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2021] [Accepted: 08/07/2021] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Endometriosis, which affects 10-15 % of women of reproductive age, is an estrogen-driven condition influenced by environmental and genetic factors. Exposition to estrogen-like endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) has been reported to contribute to the fetal origin of this disease. CASE PRESENTATION We report here an informative family in which all prenatally DES-exposed daughters and subsequent granddaughters presented endometriosis, whereas the unexposed first daughter and her progeny presented no gynecological disorders. Moreover, the only post-pubertal great-granddaughter, who presents chronic dysmenorrhea that remains resistant to conventional therapy, is at risk of developing endometriosis. The mother (I-2) was prescribed DES (30 mg/day for 3 months) to inhibit lactation after each delivery. CONCLUSIONS Although a direct causal link between the grandmother's treatment with DES and the development of endometriosis in possibly three exposed generations remains speculative, this report strengthens the suspicion that fetal exposition to DES contributes to the pathogenesis of adult diseases, such as endometriosis. It also highlights a multigenerational and likely transgenerational effect of EDCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Gaspari
- CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, Service de Pédiatrie, Montpellier, France
- CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Centre de Référence Maladies Rares du Développement Génital, Constitutif Sud, Hôpital Lapeyronie, Montpellier, France
- Univ Montpellier, INSERM 1203, Développement Embryonnaire Fertilité Environnement, Montpellier, France
| | | | - Françoise Paris
- CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, Service de Pédiatrie, Montpellier, France
- CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Centre de Référence Maladies Rares du Développement Génital, Constitutif Sud, Hôpital Lapeyronie, Montpellier, France
- Univ Montpellier, INSERM 1203, Développement Embryonnaire Fertilité Environnement, Montpellier, France
| | - Nicolas Kalfa
- CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Centre de Référence Maladies Rares du Développement Génital, Constitutif Sud, Hôpital Lapeyronie, Montpellier, France
- CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Département de Chirurgie Pédiatrique, Hôpital Lapeyronie, Montpellier, France
| | - Samir Hamamah
- Univ Montpellier, INSERM 1203, Développement Embryonnaire Fertilité Environnement, Montpellier, France
- CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Département de Biologie de la Reproduction, Biologie de la Reproduction/DPI et CECOS, Montpellier, France
| | - Charles Sultan
- CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Unité d’Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, Service de Pédiatrie, Montpellier, France
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Carmel M, Michaelovsky E, Weinberger R, Frisch A, Mekori-Domachevsky E, Gothelf D, Weizman A. Differential methylation of imprinting genes and MHC locus in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome-related schizophrenia spectrum disorders. World J Biol Psychiatry 2021; 22:46-57. [PMID: 32212948 DOI: 10.1080/15622975.2020.1747113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (DS) is the strongest known genetic risk for schizophrenia. Methylome screening was conducted to elucidate possible involvement of epigenetic alterations in the emergence of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SZ-SD) in 22q11.2DS. METHODS Sixteen adult men with/without SZ-SD were recruited from a 22q11.2DS cohort and underwent genome-wide DNA methylation profile analysis. Differentially methylated probes (DMPs) and regions (DMRs) were analysed using the ChAMP software. RESULTS The DMPs (p-value <10-6) and DMRs (p-valueArea <0.01) were enriched in two gene sets, 'imprinting genes' and 'chr6p21', a region overlapping the MHC locus. Most of the identified imprinting genes are involved in neurodevelopment and located in clusters under imprinting control region (ICR) regulation, including PEG10, SGCE (7q21.3), GNAS, GNAS-AS1 (20q13.32) and SNHG14, SNURF-SNRPN, SNORD115 (15q11.2). The differentially methylated genes from the MHC locus included immune HLA-genes and non-immune genes, RNF39, PPP1R18 and NOTCH4, implicated in neurodevelopment and synaptic plasticity. The most significant DMR is located in MHC locus and covered the transcription regulator ZFP57 that is required for control and maintenance of gene imprinting at multiple ICRs. CONCLUSIONS The differential methylation in imprinting genes and in chr6p21-22 indicate the neurodevelopmental nature of 22q11.2DS-related SZ and the major role of MHC locus in the risk to develop SZ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miri Carmel
- Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.,Felsenstein Medical Research Center, Petach Tikva, Israel
| | - Elena Michaelovsky
- Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.,Felsenstein Medical Research Center, Petach Tikva, Israel
| | - Ronnie Weinberger
- The Behavioral Neurogenetics Center and Child Psychiatry Division, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Amos Frisch
- Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.,Felsenstein Medical Research Center, Petach Tikva, Israel
| | - Ehud Mekori-Domachevsky
- Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.,The Behavioral Neurogenetics Center and Child Psychiatry Division, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Doron Gothelf
- Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.,The Behavioral Neurogenetics Center and Child Psychiatry Division, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel.,Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Abraham Weizman
- Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.,Felsenstein Medical Research Center, Petach Tikva, Israel.,Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.,Geha Mental Health Center, Petach Tikva, Israel
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Goodson WH, Lowe L, Gilbertson M, Carpenter DO. Testing the low dose mixtures hypothesis from the Halifax project. REVIEWS ON ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 2020; 35:333-357. [PMID: 32833669 DOI: 10.1515/reveh-2020-0033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/02/2020] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
In 2013, 60 scientists, representing a larger group of 174 scientists from 26 nations, met in Halifax, Nova Scotia to consider whether - using published research - it was logical to anticipate that a mixture of chemicals, each thought to be non-carcinogenic, might act together in that mixture as a virtual carcinogen. The group identified 89 such chemicals, each one affecting one or more Hallmark(s) - collectively covering all Hallmarks of Cancer - confirming the possibility that a chemical mixture could induce all the Hallmarks and function as a virtual carcinogen, thereby supporting the concern that chemical safety research that does not evaluate mixtures, is incomplete. Based on these observations, the Halifax Project developed the Low-Dose Carcinogenesis Hypothesis which posits "…that low-dose exposures to [mixtures of] disruptive chemicals that are not individually carcinogenic may be capable of instigating and/or enabling carcinogenesis." Although testing all possible combinations of over 80,000 chemicals of commerce would be impractical, prudence requires designing a methodology to test whether low-dose chemical mixtures might be carcinogenic. As an initial step toward testing this hypothesis, we conducted a mini review of published empirical observations of biological exposures to chemical mixtures to assess what empirical data exists on which to base future research. We reviewed studies on chemical mixtures with the criteria that the studies reported both different concentrations of chemicals and mixtures composed of different chemicals. We found a paucity of research on this important question. The majority of studies reported hormone related processes and used chemical concentrations selected to facilitate studying how mixtures behave in experiments that were often removed from clinical relevance, i.e., chemicals were not studied at human-relevant concentrations. New research programs must be envisioned to enable study of how mixtures of small doses of chemicals affect human health, starting, when at all possible, from non-malignant specimens when studies are done in vitro. This research should use human relevant concentrations of chemicals, expand research beyond the historic focus on endocrine endpoints and endocrine related cancers, and specifically seek effects that arise uniquely from exposure to chemical mixtures at human-relevant concentrations.
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Affiliation(s)
- William H Goodson
- Department of Surgery, California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, 94115, USA
| | - Leroy Lowe
- Getting to Know Cancer (NGO), Truro, NS, B2N 1X5, Canada
| | - Michael Gilbertson
- Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland
| | - David O Carpenter
- Institute for Health and the Environment, University at Albany, Rensselaer, NY, 12144, USA
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Perinatal Exposure to Environmental Endocrine Disruptors in the Emergence of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatric Diseases: A Systematic Review. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2019; 16:ijerph16081318. [PMID: 31013727 PMCID: PMC6517937 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16081318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2019] [Revised: 04/04/2019] [Accepted: 04/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Background: Exposure to endocrine disruptors is on the rise, with new compounds regularly incriminated. In animals and humans, this exposure during critical developmental windows has been associated with various developmental abnormalities, including the emergence of psychiatric disorders. We aimed to review the association between perinatal endocrine disruptor exposure and neurodevelopmental disorders in humans, focusing on cognitive and psychiatric disorders. Methods: We performed a systematic review with key words referring to the fields of neurodevelopment and endocrine disruptors. We reviewed 896 titles, choosing studies on the basis of titles and abstracts. We searched through the methodology sections to find perinatal exposure and neurodevelopmental disorders, following the categories indicated in the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders (5th edition). References in some studies brought us to a total of 47 studies included here. Results: Convergent studies report an association between exposure to endocrine disruptors and autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, global developmental delay, intellectual disability, communication disorders and unspecified neurodevelopmental disorders. Conclusion: Sufficient data exist to report that exposure to some endocrine disruptors is a risk factor for the emergence of neurodevelopmental disorders. Studying endocrine disruptor exposure in humans is still associated with some limits that are difficult to overcome.
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Soyer-Gobillard MO, Gaspari L, Courtet P, Puillandre M, Paris F, Sultan C. Neurodevelopmental disorders in children exposed in utero to synthetic progestins: analysis from the national cohort of the Hhorages Association. Gynecol Endocrinol 2019; 35:247-250. [PMID: 30626235 DOI: 10.1080/09513590.2018.1512968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The medical and scientific communities have not yet fully acknowledged the undesirable effects of the synthetic hormones that have been administered to pregnant women for decades. The somatic effects of in utero exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES), such as genital malformations, infertility, and cancer, have long been recognized but this has not been the case concerning psychiatric disorders. The progestins used in contraception and hormone replacement therapy are known to affect the adult brain, but no data exist on their effects due to in utero exposure of children. The Hhorages Association, a national patient support group, has assembled a cohort of 1200 women who took synthetic hormones during pregnancy. These women had a combined 1934 children. We obtained full questionnaire responses from 46 women treated with progestins only - and not an estrogenic cocktail - who gave birth to 115 children. Three groups were observed: Group 1 (n = 18): firstborn unexposed children, Group 2 (n = 62): children exposed in utero to synthetic progestins, and Group 3 (n = 35): children born after a previous pregnancy treated with progestins. No psychiatric disorders were reported in Group 1 and the incidence of psychiatric disorders was drastically elevated in Group 2. Our work shows a striking increase in psychiatric disorders among children exposed in utero to progestins and strongly suggests that prenatal exposure is associated with a high risk of psychiatric disorders in adolescence and adulthood, whether accompanied or not by disorders of sex development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie-Odile Soyer-Gobillard
- a Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne University, Université P. et M. Curie (Paris 6) , France
- b Association HHORAGES-France (Halte aux HORmones Artificielles pour les GrossessES) , Asnières sur Oise , France
| | - Laura Gaspari
- c Service de Pédiatrie I , Unité d'endocrinologie et gynécologie pédiatrique , Université de Montpellier , France
| | - Philippe Courtet
- d Département d'urgence et Post urgence Psychiatrique , CHU Montpellier and Université de Montpellier , Montpellier , France
| | - Mauricette Puillandre
- b Association HHORAGES-France (Halte aux HORmones Artificielles pour les GrossessES) , Asnières sur Oise , France
| | - Françoise Paris
- c Service de Pédiatrie I , Unité d'endocrinologie et gynécologie pédiatrique , Université de Montpellier , France
| | - Charles Sultan
- c Service de Pédiatrie I , Unité d'endocrinologie et gynécologie pédiatrique , Université de Montpellier , France
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11
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Wang H, Lou D, Wang Z. Crosstalk of Genetic Variants, Allele-Specific DNA Methylation, and Environmental Factors for Complex Disease Risk. Front Genet 2019; 9:695. [PMID: 30687383 PMCID: PMC6334214 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2018.00695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2018] [Accepted: 12/12/2018] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the past decades, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified thousands of phenotype-associated DNA sequence variants for potential explanations of inter-individual phenotypic differences and disease susceptibility. However, it remains a challenge for translating the associations into causative mechanisms for complex diseases, partially due to the involved variants in the noncoding regions and the inconvenience of functional studies in human population samples. So far, accumulating evidence has suggested a complex crosstalk among genetic variants, allele-specific binding of transcription factors (ABTF), and allele-specific DNA methylation patterns (ASM), as well as environmental factors for disease risk. This review aims to summarize the current studies regarding the interactions of the aforementioned factors with a focus on epigenetic insights. We present two scenarios of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in coding regions and non-coding regions for disease risk, via potentially impacting epigenetic patterns. While a SNP in a coding region may confer disease risk via altering protein functions, a SNP in non-coding region may cause diseases, via SNP-altering ABTF, ASM, and allele-specific gene expression (ASE). The allelic increases or decreases of gene expression are key for disease risk during development. Such ASE can be achieved via either a "SNP-introduced ABTF to ASM" or a "SNP-introduced ASM to ABTF." Together with our additional in-depth review on insulator CTCF, we are convinced to propose a working model that the small effect of a SNP acts through altered ABTF and/or ASM, for ASE and eventual disease outcome (named as a "SNP intensifier" model). In summary, the significance of complex crosstalk among genetic factors, epigenetic patterns, and environmental factors requires further investigations for disease susceptibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huishan Wang
- Laboratory of Human Environmental Epigenome, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
| | - Dan Lou
- Laboratory of Human Environmental Epigenome, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Zhibin Wang
- Laboratory of Human Environmental Epigenome, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States
- State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan, China
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12
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Boks MP, Houtepen LC, Xu Z, He Y, Ursini G, Maihofer AX, Rajarajan P, Yu Q, Xu H, Wu Y, Wang S, Shi JP, Hulshoff Pol HE, Strengman E, Rutten BPF, Jaffe AE, Kleinman JE, Baker DG, Hol EM, Akbarian S, Nievergelt CM, De Witte LD, Vinkers CH, Weinberger DR, Yu J, Kahn RS. Genetic vulnerability to DUSP22 promoter hypermethylation is involved in the relation between in utero famine exposure and schizophrenia. NPJ SCHIZOPHRENIA 2018; 4:16. [PMID: 30131491 PMCID: PMC6104043 DOI: 10.1038/s41537-018-0058-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2018] [Revised: 06/29/2018] [Accepted: 07/03/2018] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Epigenetic changes may account for the doubled risk to develop schizophrenia in individuals exposed to famine in utero. We therefore investigated DNA methylation in a unique sample of patients and healthy individuals conceived during the great famine in China. Subsequently, we examined two case-control samples without famine exposure in whole blood and brain tissue. To shed light on the causality of the relation between famine exposure and DNA methylation, we exposed human fibroblasts to nutritional deprivation. In the famine-exposed schizophrenia patients, we found significant hypermethylation of the dual specificity phosphatase 22 (DUSP22) gene promoter (Chr6:291687-293285) (N = 153, p = 0.01). In this sample, DUSP22 methylation was also significantly higher in patients independent of famine exposure (p = 0.025), suggesting that hypermethylation of DUSP22 is also more generally involved in schizophrenia risk. Similarly, DUSP22 methylation was also higher in two separate case-control samples not exposed to famine using DNA from whole blood (N = 64, p = 0.03) and postmortem brains (N = 214, p = 0.007). DUSP22 methylation showed strong genetic regulation across chromosomes by a region on chromosome 16 which was consistent with new 3D genome interaction data. The presence of a direct link between famine and DUSP22 transcription was supported by data from cultured human fibroblasts that showed increased methylation (p = 0.048) and expression (p = 0.019) in response to nutritional deprivation (N = 10). These results highlight an epigenetic locus that is genetically regulated across chromosomes and that is involved in the response to early-life exposure to famine and that is relevant for a major psychiatric disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- M P Boks
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - L C Houtepen
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Z Xu
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Y He
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - G Ursini
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, USA
| | - A X Maihofer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA.,VA Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, San Diego, CA, USA.,Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - P Rajarajan
- Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA
| | - Q Yu
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - H Xu
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Y Wu
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - S Wang
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - J P Shi
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - H E Hulshoff Pol
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - E Strengman
- Molecular Pathology, Department of Pathology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - B P F Rutten
- School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - A E Jaffe
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, USA
| | - J E Kleinman
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, USA
| | - D G Baker
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA.,VA Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, San Diego, CA, USA.,Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - E M Hol
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Translational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - S Akbarian
- Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA
| | - C M Nievergelt
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA.,VA Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, San Diego, CA, USA.,Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - L D De Witte
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - C H Vinkers
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - D R Weinberger
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, USA
| | - J Yu
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - R S Kahn
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA
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13
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Chaumette B, Kebir O, Krebs MO. [Genetics and epigenetics of schizophrenia and other psychoses]. Biol Aujourdhui 2017; 211:69-82. [PMID: 28682228 DOI: 10.1051/jbio/2017015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Schizophrenia and other psychoses are categorical psychiatric diagnoses corresponding to frequent and heterogeneous disorders. Their physiopathology still remains largely unknown despite numerous recent advances. In particular, the last decade has identified different types of genetic variants, thanks to emergence of high-throughput methods. These methods allow both the identification of rare variants with a large effect such as punctual mutations or copy-number variants and the identification of frequent variants with a limited effect such as polymorphisms. Many impacted genes have been identified showing a very high genetic heterogeneity of psychoses. These genes are overrepresented in synaptic and neurotransmission pathways. Only a small fraction of psychoses could be easily explained by genetics but this screening in clinical practice is important as it can lead to therapeutic challenge or genetic counselling. Nowadays, it is clear that the pathophysiology of the psychoses can only be understood by an integrative approach taking into account the interaction between genes and environment. This interaction could be mediated by the epigenome defined as the modification of gene expression without changes in DNA sequence. Epigenome is stable but could be modified by environmental factors. Several epigenetic mechanisms have been studied in psychosis, in particular the DNA methylation, the modification of histones and the microRNA. All of these mechanisms are under regulation by genetic factors and variants in these epigenetic-involved genes and cofactors have been also associated with schizophrenia. Thus, pathophysiology of psychosis is complex and morestudiesare needed before definitive conclusions. Altogether, the recent advances in the genetics and epigenetics of psychosis are promising and could open the way to a recategorization of these disorders as well as the identification of new therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boris Chaumette
- Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Oussama Kebir
- INSERM, U894, Laboratoire "Physiopathologie des maladies psychiatriques", Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 102-108 rue de la Santé, 75014 Paris, France Institut de Psychiatrie-GDR 3557, Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, Paris, France
| | - Marie-Odile Krebs
- INSERM, U894, Laboratoire "Physiopathologie des maladies psychiatriques", Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 102-108 rue de la Santé, 75014 Paris, France Institut de Psychiatrie-GDR 3557, Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, Paris, France
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