Environmentally relevant levels of Bisphenol A may accelerate the development of type II diabetes mellitus in adolescent Otsuka Long Evans Tokushima Fatty rats

Abstract

Environmental chemicals may contribute to the development of obesity and metabolic disorders such as diabetes. Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the environmental chemicals that are widely used in daily life. This study was performed to investigate whether low dose BPA exposure can influence the occurrence of type II diabetes mellitus. Four weeks old Otsuka Long Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats were randomly assigned to three groups of five animals and each group was given different concentrations of corn oil with BPA (0, 0.001, and 0.1 mg/kg/day). BPA 0.1 mg/kg/ day produced impairment of glucose tolerance, and induced higher insulin (p=0.028) and malondialdehyde levels (p=0.009) in serum than control group. Serum insulin levels in BPA 0.001 mg/kg/day treated group showed significantly higher than the control group (p=0.016). BPA tended to induce down-regulation of PPARγ mRNA and protein expression in white adipose tissue than control. In conclusion, low dose BPA exposed OLETF rats in adolescent period could accelerate the development of diabetes mellitus in younger adult period. © 2014 Korean Society of Environmental Risk Assessment and Health Science and Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.