Parabens and their relation to obesity.

摘要

Parabens are a group of chemicals used as preservatives in thefood, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. They are known topossess estrogenic effects, and therefore have been classified asendocrine disruptors. In addition to the classical endocrineorgans, other tissues have endocrine activity, including adiposetissue. Several chemicals are known to cause obesogenic effects,and parabens are currently being studied in this context. The aimof this study was to investigate the possible connections ofparaben exposure and obesity. Blood plasma from 27 healthywomen was collected during their menstrual cycle. Basalanthropometric measures, levels of parabens (methylparaben,ethylparaben and propylparaben), adipokines (adiponectin,adipsin, leptin, resistin and visfatin) and hormones affectingenergy balance and metabolic health (c-peptide, ghreline, GIP,GLP-1, glucagon, insulin, PAI-1) were measured. A KolmogorovSmirnovtest showed higher methylparaben and propylparabenlevels in women with BMI 25-34.9 compared to those withBMI 18.5-24.9. Plasma levels of methylparaben as well as thesum of parabens were positively associated with the plasmaadipsin levels. Negative associations for methylparaben werefound for glucagon, leptin and PAI-1. In accordance with otherexperimental studies we observed important associations ofmethylparaben and hormones affecting energy balance andmetabolic health, indicating its obesogenic potential.