Environ Anal Health Toxicol.  2024 Mar;39(1):e2024007. 10.5620/eaht.2024007.

Short-term exposure to di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate may disrupt hepatic lipid metabolism through modulating the oxidative stress in male adolescent rats

Affiliations
  • 1Institute for Catholic Integrative Medicine, Incheon St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Incheon, Republic of Korea
  • 2Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
  • 3Department of Convergence Science, College of Medicine, Catholic Kwandong University International St. Mary’s Hospital, Incheon, Republic of Korea

Abstract

Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) is commonly used to increase the flexibility of plastics. In our previous study, DEHP may increase hepatic lipid accumulation through modulating of acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) expression. Nevertheless, it is hard to understand the association between DEHP and DGAT1 in the liver because only one dosage of DEHP was used. Thus, this study performed to investigate the role of DGAT1 on hepatic lipid metabolism after various dosages of DEHP exposure. Four-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 5/group) were administered corn oil (vehicle) or DEHP (0.75, 7.5, 15, or 150 mg/kg/day) once daily for seven days. DEHP 150 mg/kg/day treated group increased body weight gain and relative liver weight compared to the control (P = 0.044 and P = 0.049, respectively). In histological observation, elevation of hepatic lipid accumulation was observed in all DEHP-treated groups, except DEHP 150 mg/kg/day, compared to that in the control (all P < 0.001). Portal inflammatory infiltration and acidophilic bodies were observed in the liver at DEHP 7.5 mg/kg/day and above treated groups. In addition, malondiadehyde levels, a marker of lipid peroxidation, in the liver were increased in DEHP 7.5, 15 and 150 mg/kg/day compared to the control (P = 0.017, P = 0.001, and P = 0.002, respectively). The expression of Dgat1 in the liver was significantly increased in DEHP 7.5, 15 and 150 mg/kg/day compared to the control group (P = 0.019, P = 0.002, and P < 0.001, respectively); however, there were no significant changes in the protein levels. Therefore, excessive oxidative stress caused by DEHP may induce liver damage such as inflammation rather than hepatic lipid accumulation by regulating DGAT1 transcription.

Keyword

di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate; diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1; oxidative stress; liver; lipid metabolism
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