Parma consensus statement on metabolic disruptors

Jerrold J Heindel; Frederick S Vom Saal; Bruce Blumberg; Patrizia Bovolin; Gemma Calamandrei; Graziano Ceresini; Barbara A Cohn; Elena Fabbri; Laura Gioiosa; Christopher Kassotis; Juliette Legler; Michele La Merrill; Laura Rizzir; Ronit Machtinger; Alberto Mantovani; Michelle A Mendez; Luisa Montanini; Laura Molteni; Susan C Nagel; Stefano Parmigiani; Giancarlo Panzica; Silvia Paterlini; Valentina Pomatto; Jérôme Ruzzin; Giorgio Sartor; Thaddeus T Schug; Maria E Street; Alexander Suvorov; Riccardo Volpi; R Thomas Zoeller; Paola Palanza

doi:10.1186/s12940-015-0042-7

Clinical Guidelines and Standards · Guidelines by Issuing Body

Parma consensus statement on metabolic disruptors

Heindel JJ, Vom Saal FS, Blumberg B, Bovolin P, Calamandrei G, Ceresini G, Cohn BA, Fabbri E, Gioiosa L, Kassotis C, Legler J, La Merrill M, Rizzir L, Machtinger R, Mantovani A, Mendez MA, Montanini L, Molteni L, Nagel SC, Parmigiani S, Panzica G, Paterlini S, Pomatto V, Ruzzin J, Sartor G, Schug TT, Street ME, Suvorov A, Volpi R, Zoeller RT, Palanza P

Published June 20, 2015 Environmental health : a global access science source

DOI 10.1186/s12940-015-0042-7 PMID 26092037 PMC PMC4473834

RRM Academy Synopsis

Environmental chemicals may raise risk of obesity and diabetes

A 2014 expert workshop in Parma, Italy, proposes that chemicals in the environment, called metabolic disruptors, may raise the risk of obesity and diabetes. The authors name the womb and early childhood as the most sensitive time.

Key Findings

The authors propose the term metabolic disruptors for chemicals that change susceptibility to obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome, broadening the narrower term obesogens.
The statement says classical genetic factors cannot account for the 4-decade rise in obesity and metabolic disease, and lists environmental chemicals among several environmental contributors.
The authors are confident that the most sensitive period for metabolic disruption runs from development in utero through the first few years of life.
Some effects of metabolic disruptors may pass across generations. The authors say studying them requires at least two generations for paternal line effects and three for maternal line effects.
Obesity among adults in the United States has increased from 13% to 35% over 4 decades. Type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents increased by 30.5% between 2001 and 2009.

Interpretation

The paper is an expert consensus statement from a three-day workshop in May 2014. The authors call the group the first international working group on this topic. The cited evidence includes animal studies, such as prenatal tributyltin exposure raising fat storage through the F3 generation. It also includes human studies linking urine levels of phthalates and bisphenol A with waist size and obesity. The authors present the main idea as a hypothesis. They estimate with confidence that the role of these chemicals is underestimated, since current research designs test one or a few chemicals at a time.

RRM Context

The statement treats obesity and metabolic syndrome as hormone problems that chemicals can disrupt. Restorative reproductive medicine also seeks root causes of hormone problems. The paper says the brain-to-gonad hormone axis affects energy balance and metabolism. It lists a father's exposure as a sensitive window, so both partners matter.

Our editorial summary of this paper, not the article's abstract.

Abstract

A multidisciplinary group of experts gathered in Parma Italy for a workshop hosted by the University of Parma, May 16-18, 2014 to address concerns about the potential relationship between environmental metabolic disrupting chemicals, obesity and related metabolic disorders. The objectives of the workshop were to: 1. Review findings related to the role of environmental chemicals, referred to as "metabolic disruptors", in obesity and metabolic syndrome with special attention to recent discoveries from animal model and epidemiology studies; 2. Identify conclusions that could be drawn with confidence from existing animal and human data; 3. Develop predictions based on current data; and 4. Identify critical knowledge gaps and areas of uncertainty. The consensus statements are intended to aid in expanding understanding of the role of metabolic disruptors in the obesity and metabolic disease epidemics, to move the field forward by assessing the current state of the science and to identify research needs on the role of environmental chemical exposures in these diseases. We propose broadening the definition of obesogens to that of metabolic disruptors, to encompass chemicals that play a role in altered susceptibility to obesity, diabetes and related metabolic disorders including metabolic syndrome.

Topics

Clinical Guidelines and Standards › Guidelines by Issuing Body › Specialty and Consensus Panels · Lifestyle and Environment › Environmental Exposures › Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

Jerrold J Heindel, Frederick S Vom Saal, Bruce Blumberg, Patrizia Bovolin, Gemma Calamandrei, Graziano Ceresini, Barbara A Cohn, Elena Fabbri, Laura Gioiosa, Christopher Kassotis, Juliette Legler, Michele La Merrill, Laura Rizzir, Ronit Machtinger, Alberto Mantovani, Michelle A Mendez, Luisa Montanini, Laura Molteni, Susan C Nagel, Stefano Parmigiani, Giancarlo Panzica, Silvia Paterlini, Valentina Pomatto, Jérôme Ruzzin, Giorgio Sartor, Thaddeus T Schug, Maria E Street, Alexander Suvorov, Riccardo Volpi, R Thomas Zoeller, Paola Palanza

J Heindel, Fred Saal, F Saal, B Blumberg, P Bovolin, G Calamandrei, G Ceresini, Barb Cohn, B Cohn, E Fabbri, L Gioiosa, Chris Kassotis, C Kassotis, J Legler, M Merrill, L Rizzir, R Machtinger, A Mantovani, M Mendez, L Montanini, L Molteni, Sue Nagel, S Nagel, S Parmigiani, G Panzica, S Paterlini, V Pomatto, J Ruzzin, G Sartor, T Schug, M Street, Alex Suvorov, A Suvorov, R Volpi, P Palanza

PMID 26092037 26092037 DOI 10.1186/s12940-015-0042-7 10.1186/s12940-015-0042-7 Heindel et al. 2015, Heindel 2015

Parma consensus statement on metabolic disruptors

Environmental chemicals may raise risk of obesity and diabetes

Key Findings

Interpretation

RRM Context

Abstract

Topics

By this author

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