A pioneering study, led by the Basic and Clinical Oncology research group of the Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada (ibs.GRANADA) and the University of Granada, within the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) and the European Partnership for the Assessment of the Risk of Chemical Substances (PARC), has revealed that the exposure of European adolescents to perfluorinated substances (PFAS) may have harmful consequences on their reproductive health. This shocking finding has been possible thanks to the use of biomarkers of effect, with kisspeptin as a key marker.
Perfluorinated compounds, popularly known as “forever chemicals“, are found in numerous everyday consumer products, from cosmetics to heat-resistant kitchen utensils, and are therefore present in drinking water, air and soil. Despite their ubiquity, very few epidemiological studies have investigated the relationship between PFAS and sex hormones, both female and male, especially in adolescents, a crucial period for development and reproductive health.
This Granada study by ibs.GRANADA and the University of Granada has been carried out thanks to the collaboration of adolescents from Belgium, Slovakia and Spain, analyzing the effects of exposure to PFAS, both to individual compounds and to mixtures of PFAS, on the hormones of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis, responsible for regulating maturation and reproductive health processes, such as sexual development in adolescence. The levels of kisspeptin, a fundamental regulator for reproductive development, the onset of puberty and the menstrual cycle, were also evaluated.
To carry out this study, serum samples were taken from 733 adolescents from the three countries and the concentration of seven PFAS was quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. In addition, follicle stimulating hormones (FSH), total testosterone (TT), estradiol (E2), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and kisspeptin (isoform 54-kiss54) were measured by immunoassay. The associations between the seven individual PFAS and the mixture of the three most common (PFOA, PFOS and PFNA), with reproductive markers, were then analyzed using different mathematical models.
The results of this cross-sectional study are revealing. PFAS were associated with higher levels of kisspeptin, FSH, TT, and lower levels of SHBG in adolescent girls from all three countries, as well as with higher levels of kisspeptin and lower levels of TT in Slovak adolescents. When the mixture of all three PFAS was considered, higher levels of reproductive hormones were observed in women, but lower levels of TT and kisspeptin in male participants.
The most significant conclusion of this pioneering study is that the exposure of adolescents to perfluorinated compounds causes an alteration of hormonal balance that can have detrimental consequences on their development and reproductive capacity. The observed effects were different in girls and boys, suggesting that gender plays a critical role in the manifestation of the damage of these compounds.
Granada scientists propose the routine use of effect biomarkers in human biomonitoring programs, such as those that Spain plans to implement immediately (Interministerial Commission on Human Biomonitoring), to better understand the impacts of exposure to environmental contaminants, and to be able to establish, thus, preventive measures in the most affected populations.
This study highlights the urgent need to address PFAS exposure in the adolescent population and take steps to reduce its impact on reproductive health and development. The results offer new insight into the risks associated with PFAS and underscore the importance of continued research in this field.
About the research group
The ibs.GRANADA Basic and Clinical Oncology research group is a multidisciplinary team made up of clinical doctors, physiotherapists, biologists, chemists and environmentalists who join their efforts in the study of the environmental causes of common diseases and in the diagnosis and treatment. treatment of tumor diseases. Its participation in the CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), the Childhood and Environment Network (INMA), and the European consortia of Biomonitoring of Environmental Exposure and Risk Analysis (HBM4EU and PARC), guide the group's objectives. in the field of epidemiology and environmental medicine.
More information about the group at https://www.ibsgranada.es/grupos-de-investigacion/a15-oncologia-basica-y-clinica/
Bibliographic reference
Rodríguez-Carrillo, A., Remy, S., Koppen, G., Wauters, N., Freire, C., Olivas-Martínez, A., Schillemans, T., Åkesson, A., Desalegn, A., Iszatt , N., den Hond, E., Verheyen, V., Fábelová, L., Murinova, LP, Pedraza-Díaz, S., Castaño, A., García-Lario, JV, Cox, B., Govarts, E. ., … Fernández, MF (2023). PFAS association with kisspeptin and sex hormones in adolescents of the HBM4EU aligned studies. In Environmental pollution (Vol. 335, p. 122214). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122214
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