POPs and Gut Microbiota: Dietary Exposure Alters Ratio of Bacterial Species

Carol Potera, based in Montana, also writes for Microbe, Genetic Engineering News, and the American Journal of Nursing. About This Article open Citation: Potera C. 2015. POPs and gut microbiota: dietary exposure alters ratio of bacterial species. Environ Health Perspect 123:A187; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.123-A187 News Topics: Dioxins and Furans, Microbiology, Microbiome, Obesity, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Published: 1 July 2015 PDF Version (403 KB) Related EHP Article Persistent Organic Pollutants Modify Gut Microbiota–Host Metabolic Homeostasis in Mice Through Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activation Limin Zhang, Robert G. Nichols, Jared Correll, Iain A. Murray, Naoki Tanaka, Philip B. Smith, Troy D. Hubbard, Aswathy Sebastian, Istvan Albert, Emmanuel Hatzakis, Frank J. Gonzalez, Gary H. Perdew, and Andrew D. Patterson Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been implicated in myriad human health problems, including cancer, neurologic, immunologic, and reproductive defects, among many other adverse health effects.1 New lines of research suggest that chronic dietary exposure to POPs may also contribute to obesity and type 2 diabetes.2 In this issue of EHP, researchers examine how one POP in particular—2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzofuran (TCDF)—affects the composition of the mouse gut microbiome.3 They report that TCDF exposure alters the gut microbiome in ways that may prove to contribute to obesity and other metabolic diseases. TCDF binds ...
Source: EHP Research - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Featured News Science Selection Dioxins and Furans July 2015 Microbiology Microbiome Obesity Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Source Type: research