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Environmental Health Perspectives May 2023Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been previously linked to polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), but only a few legacy PFAS were examined.
Environmental Exposure to Emerging Alternatives of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in Women Diagnosed with Infertility: A Mixture Analysis.
BACKGROUND
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been previously linked to polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), but only a few legacy PFAS were examined.
OBJECTIVES
This study aimed to explore this association with a variety of PFAS, including legacy, branched-chain isomers, and emerging alternatives, as well as a PFAS mixture.
METHODS
From 2014 to 2016, we conducted a multicenter, hospital-based case-control study on environmental endocrine disruptors and infertility in China. Three hundred sixty-six women with PCOS-related infertility and 577 control participants without PCOS were included in the current analysis. Twenty-three PFAS, including 3 emerging PFAS alternatives, 6 linear and branched PFAS isomers, 6 short-chain PFAS, and 8 legacy PFAS, were quantified in the plasma. Logistic regression and two multipollutant models [quantile-based g-computation (QGC) and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) methods] were used to assess the association of individual PFAS and PFAS mixture with PCOS, as well as the potential interactions among the congeners.
RESULTS
After adjusting for potential confounders, Each 1-standard deviation higher difference in ln-transformed 6:2 chlorinated perfluoroalkyl ether sulfonic acid (6:2 Cl-PFESA) and hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA) level was significantly associated with a 29% (95% CI: 1.11, 1.52) and 39% (95% CI:1.16, 1.68) higher odds of PCOS, respectively. Meanwhile, branched isomers of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) (i.e., br-PFHxS, n-PFOS, , ), short-chain PFAS (i.e., PFPeS and PFHxA) and other legacy PFAS [i.e., total concentrations of PFOS (T-PFOS), and perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoA)] were significantly associated with increased odds of PCOS. The PFAS mixture was positively related to PCOS in the BKMR model. A similar trend was observed in QGC model, a ln-unit increase in the PFAS mixture was associated with a 20% increased risk of PCOS [ (95% CI: 1.06, 1.37)]. After controlling for other PFAS homologs, 6:2 Cl-PFESA, HFPO-DA, , and PFDoA were the major contributors based on the QGC and BKMR models. The associations were more pronounced in overweight/obese women.
CONCLUSIONS
In this group of women, environmental exposure to a PFAS mixture was associated with an elevated odds of PCOS, with 6:2 Cl-PFESA, HFPO-DA, , and PFDoA being the major contributors, especially in overweight/obese women. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP11814.
Topics: Humans; Female; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome; Case-Control Studies; Bayes Theorem; Overweight; Fluorocarbons; Environmental Exposure; Alkanesulfonic Acids; Infertility; Alkanesulfonates; Obesity; Environmental Pollutants
PubMed: 37134253
DOI: 10.1289/EHP11814 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Jul 2020Superelectrophiles are reactive species that often carry multiple positive charges. They have been useful in numerous synthetic methods and they often exhibit highly... (Review)
Review
Superelectrophiles are reactive species that often carry multiple positive charges. They have been useful in numerous synthetic methods and they often exhibit highly unusual reactivities. Recent advances in superelectrophile chemistry are discussed in this review.
Topics: Aza Compounds; Cyclization; Electrochemistry; Mesylates; Quinolones
PubMed: 32707680
DOI: 10.3390/molecules25143281 -
European Journal of Dermatology : EJD Nov 2022Surfactants are long-chain compounds comprising a hydrophobic tail and a hydrophilic head, lending them the ability to act as a “bridge” between oil and water. Their...
Surfactants are long-chain compounds comprising a hydrophobic tail and a hydrophilic head, lending them the ability to act as a “bridge” between oil and water. Their detergent, foaming and other properties prove useful in a number of settings, including home and workplace sanitation, cosmetics (rinse and no-rinse cleansers) and medicine. When used on skin, surfactants reduce the superficial surface tension of proteins and lipids on the stratum corneum. This helps to eliminate skin debris such as sebum, oils and dirt, but also presents a risk of damage to the skin barrier. The irritation potential of surfactants has long been common knowledge, but with the development and deployment of novel compounds, notably to replace first-generation, mostly sodium-lauryl-sulphate-based products, their potential to cause allergic contact dermatitis has come to light. Knowledge about this allergic potential and the associated dermatitises must also become commonplace so that contact allergies are considered in the presence of surfactant exposure.
Topics: Humans; Surface-Active Agents; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate; Skin; Epidermis
PubMed: 36856374
DOI: 10.1684/ejd.2022.4290 -
Bioscience Reports Oct 2022Sulfoquinovose (SQ, 6-deoxy-6-sulfo-D-glucose) is a sulfo-sugar with a ubiquitous distribution in the environment due to its production by plants and other... (Review)
Review
Sulfoquinovose (SQ, 6-deoxy-6-sulfo-D-glucose) is a sulfo-sugar with a ubiquitous distribution in the environment due to its production by plants and other photosynthetic organisms. Bacteria play an important role in degradation of SQ and recycling of its constituent sulfur and carbon. Since its discovery in 1963, SQ was noted to have a structural resemblance to glucose-6-phosphate and proposed to be degraded through a pathway analogous to glycolysis, termed sulfoglycolysis. Studies in recent years have uncovered an unexpectedly diverse array of sulfoglycolytic pathways in different bacteria, including one analogous to the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway (sulfo-EMP), one analogous to the Entner-Doudoroff pathway (sulfo-ED), and two involving sulfo-sugar cleavage by a transaldolase (sulfo-TAL) and transketolase (sulfo-TK), respectively, analogous to reactions in the pentose phosphate (PP) pathway. In addition, a non-sulfoglycolytic SQ degradation pathway was also reported, involving oxygenolytic C-S cleavage catalyzed by a homolog of alkanesulfonate monooxygenase (sulfo-ASMO). Here, we review the discovery of these new mechanisms of SQ degradation and lessons learnt in the study of new catabolic enzymes and pathways in bacteria.
Topics: Transaldolase; Glucose-6-Phosphate; Transketolase; Bacteria; Glycolysis; Sulfur; Glucose; Carbon; Alkanesulfonates; Mixed Function Oxygenases; Phosphates; Pentoses
PubMed: 36196895
DOI: 10.1042/BSR20220314 -
Advances in Colloid and Interface... Oct 2022Although the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS, has been used for more than half a century as a versatile and efficient protein denaturant for protein... (Review)
Review
Although the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS, has been used for more than half a century as a versatile and efficient protein denaturant for protein separation and size estimation, there is still controversy about its mode of interaction with proteins. The term "rod-like" structures for the complexes that form between SDS and protein, originally introduced by Tanford, is not sufficiently descriptive and does not distinguish between the two current vying models, namely protein-decorated micelles a.k.a. the core-shell model (in which denatured protein covers the surface of micelles) versus beads-on-a-string model (where unfolded proteins are surrounded by surfactant micelles). Thanks to a combination of structural, kinetic and computational work particularly within the last 5-10 years, it is now possible to rule decisively in favor of the core-shell model. This is supported unambiguously by a combination of calorimetric and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) techniques and confirmed by increasingly sophisticated molecular dynamics simulations. Depending on the SDS:protein ratio and the protein molecular mass, the formed structures can range from multiple partly unfolded protein molecules surrounding a single shared micelle to a single polypeptide chain decorating multiple micelles. We also have much new insight into how this species forms. It is preceded by the binding of small numbers of SDS molecules which subsequently grow by accretion. Time-resolved SAXS analysis reveals an asymmetric attack by SDS micelles followed by distribution of the increasingly unfolded protein around the micelle. The compactness of the protein chain continues to evolve at higher SDS concentrations according to single-molecule studies, though the protein remains completely denatured on the tertiary structural level. SDS denaturation can be reversed by addition of nonionic surfactants that absorb SDS forming mixed micelles, leaving the protein free to refold. Refolding can occur in parallel tracks if only a fraction of the protein is initially stripped of SDS. SDS unfolding is nearly always reversible unless carried out at low pH, where charge neutralization can lead to superclusters of protein-surfactant complexes. With the general mechanism of SDS denaturation now firmly established, it largely remains to explore how other ionic surfactants (including biosurfactants) may diverge from this path.
Topics: Micelles; Proteins; Scattering, Small Angle; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate; Surface-Active Agents; X-Ray Diffraction
PubMed: 36027673
DOI: 10.1016/j.cis.2022.102754 -
Diabetes & Vascular Disease Research Sep 2007
Topics: Alkanesulfonates; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Humans; Models, Biological; PPAR alpha; PPAR gamma; Phenylpropionates
PubMed: 17907105
DOI: 10.3132/dvdr.2007.036 -
FEMS Microbiology Reviews Dec 1998Organosulfonates are widespread compounds, be they natural products of low or high molecular weight, or xenobiotics. Many commonly found compounds are subject to... (Review)
Review
Organosulfonates are widespread compounds, be they natural products of low or high molecular weight, or xenobiotics. Many commonly found compounds are subject to desulfonation, even if it is not certain whether all the corresponding enzymes are widely expressed in nature. Sulfonates require transport systems to cross the cell membrane, but few physiological data and no biochemical data on this topic are available, though the sequences of some of the appropriate genes are known. Desulfonative enzymes in aerobic bacteria are generally regulated by induction, if the sulfonate is serving as a carbon and energy source, or by a global network for sulfur scavenging (sulfate-starvation-induced (SSI) stimulon) if the sulfonate is serving as a source of sulfur. It is unclear whether an SSI regulation is found in anaerobes. The anaerobic bacteria examined can express the degradative enzymes constitutively, if the sulfonate is being utilized as a carbon source, but enzyme induction has also been observed. At least three general mechanisms of desulfonation are recognisable or postulated in the aerobic catabolism of sulfonates: (1) activate the carbon neighboring the C-SO3- bond and release of sulfite assisted by a thiamine pyrophosphate cofactor; (2) destabilize the C-SO3- bond by addition of an oxygen atom to the same carbon, usually directly by oxygenation, and loss of the good leaving group, sulfite; (3) an unidentified, formally reductive reaction. Under SSIS control, different variants of mechanism (2) can be seen. Catabolism of sulfonates by anaerobes was discovered recently, and the degradation of taurine involves mechanism (1). When anaerobes assimilate sulfonate sulfur, there is one common, unknown mechanism to desulfonate the inert aromatic compounds and another to desulfonate inert aliphatic compounds; taurine seems to be desulfonated by mechanism (1).
Topics: Alkanesulfonates; Bacteria, Anaerobic; Biodegradation, Environmental; Fermentation; Oxidation-Reduction
PubMed: 9990724
DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6976.1998.tb00378.x -
Journal of the American Heart... Sep 2023Background Evidence is limited regarding the associations of prenatal and childhood per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposures with blood pressure (BP)...
Prenatal and Childhood Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance (PFAS) Exposures and Blood Pressure Trajectories From Birth to Late Adolescence in a Prospective US Prebirth Cohort.
Background Evidence is limited regarding the associations of prenatal and childhood per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposures with blood pressure (BP) trajectories in children. Methods and Results Participants are from Project Viva, a prospective prebirth cohort in eastern Massachusetts. We measured PFAS in early-pregnancy maternal (median, 9.6 weeks) and midchildhood (median, 7.7 years) plasma samples. We conducted standardized BP measurements at 6 research visits: birth, infancy (median, 6.3 months), early childhood (median, 3.2 years), midchildhood (median, 7.7 years), early adolescence (median, 12.9 years), and late adolescence (median, 17.5 years). We used linear regression to examine associations of individual PFASs with BP at each visit, linear spline mixed-effects regression to model BP trajectories, and a mixture approach to estimate PFAS exposure burden. We included 9036 BP measures from 1506 participants. We observed associations between particular individual prenatal PFASs and child BP at specific time points, for example, prenatal 2-(N-ethyl-perfluorooctane sulfonamido) acetate (EtFOSAA) and 2-(N-methyl-perfluorooctane sulfonamido) acetate (MeFOSAA) with higher systolic BP at birth; prenatal perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and EtFOSAA with lower diastolic BP in infancy; and prenatal PFOS, perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), and EtFOSAA with higher systolic BP at midchildhood. No prenatal or childhood PFAS was consistently associated with BP across all visits. Diastolic BP trajectories from 0 to 20 years differed slightly by prenatal PFOA, perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), and perfluorononanoate (PFNA) ( values 0.01-0.09). Diastolic BP trajectories from 6 to 20 years differed slightly by midchildhood PFHxS and MeFOSAA (-values 0.03-0.08). Prenatal or childhood PFAS mixture burden scores were not associated with BP. Conclusions We found associations of prenatal and childhood PFAS exposures with BP at specific time points between birth and late adolescence but no consistent associations across all time points or PFAS types.
Topics: Infant, Newborn; Child; Female; Pregnancy; Humans; Adolescent; Child, Preschool; Blood Pressure; Prospective Studies; Fluorocarbons; Hypotension; Alkanesulfonates
PubMed: 37642023
DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.123.030760 -
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety Jul 2023Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of persistent industrial chemicals that can harm reproductive health. PFAS levels were analysed to determine...
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of persistent industrial chemicals that can harm reproductive health. PFAS levels were analysed to determine the current sources of exposure and possible associations between prenatal PFAS exposure and adverse pregnancy outcome. Samples from 136 mother-newborn pairs recruited between 2017 and 2019 were analysed for the presence of 31 target PFAS in maternal serum, umbilical cord serum, and placental tissue by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a tandem mass spectrometer. Questionnaires and medical records were used to survey sources of exposure and pregnancy outcome, including small for gestational age (SGA), fetal growth restriction (FGR), preeclampsia (PE), preterm birth, large for gestational age (LGA) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Data were analysed for individual PFAS and sum4PFAS (sum of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) serum levels) in logistic regression analyses and categorical regression analyses. Compared to data from a previous Viennese study in 2010-12, sum4PFAS levels were generally lower. Sum4PFAS serum levels of three women (2.2%) exceeded 6.9 µg/L, a level that corresponds to the recently established tolerable weekly intake (TWI) of EFSA for nursing mothers aged 35 years; in the 2010/2012 study it was 13.6%. The large contribution of unidentified extractable organofluorine (EOF) fractions to total PFAS exposure is a concern. Study site, mean maternal corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), use of facial lotion, and owning upholstered furniture were significantly influencing maternal exposure. While no effect of sum4PFAS on pregnancy outcome could be detected, we found highest placental PFDA levels in SGA births. PFHxS levels in umbilical cord and placenta were highest in preterm births. Further studies are needed to elucidate the relationship of prenatal PFAS exposure and pregnancy outcome, in particular to confirm whether and how placental PFDA levels may contribute to an increased risk for SGA.
Topics: Pregnancy; Humans; Female; Infant, Newborn; Pregnancy Outcome; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Placenta; Environmental Pollutants; Austria; Premature Birth; Fluorocarbons; Alkanesulfonic Acids; Alkanesulfonates
PubMed: 37182303
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115006 -
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Nov 2023A pipette-free and fully integrated device that can be used to accurately recognize the presence of infectious pathogens is an important and useful tool in point-of-care...
Pipette-Free and Fully Integrated Paper Device Employing DNA Extraction, Isothermal Amplification, and Carmoisine-Based Colorimetric Detection for Determining Infectious Pathogens.
A pipette-free and fully integrated device that can be used to accurately recognize the presence of infectious pathogens is an important and useful tool in point-of-care testing, particularly when aiming to decrease the unpredictable threats posed by disease outbreak. In this study, a paper device is developed to integrate the three main processes required for detecting infectious pathogens, including DNA extraction, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), and detection. All key reagents, including sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), NaOH, LAMP reagents, and carmoisine, are placed on the paper device. The paper device is operated simply via sliding and folding without using any bulky equipment, and the results can be directly observed by the naked eye. The optimized concentrations of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and carmoisine were found to be 0.1%, 0.1 M, and 0.5 mg/mL, respectively. The paper device was used to detect at concentrations as low as 10 CFU/mL within 60 min. Also, spiked in milk was successfully detected using the paper device, demonstrating the feasible application in real sample analysis.
Topics: Colorimetry; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate; Sodium Hydroxide; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; DNA
PubMed: 38005500
DOI: 10.3390/s23229112