Environmental Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants and Its Association with Endometriosis Risk: Implications in the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Process

Overview

Journal Int J Mol Sci

Publisher MDPI

Specialties Biochemistry
Chemistry
Molecular Biology

Date 2024 Apr 27

PMID 38674005

Authors

Ana Martin-Leyva

Francisco M Peinado

Olga Ocon-Hernandez

Alicia Olivas-Martinez

Antonio Luque

Josefa Leon

Inmaculada Lendinez

Jesus Cardona

Ana Lara-Ramos

Nicolas Olea

Mariana F Fernandez

Francisco Artacho-Cordon

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

We aimed to explore the relationship of adipose tissue concentrations of some persistent organic pollutants (POPs) with the risk of endometriosis and the endometriotic tissue expression profile of genes related to the endometriosis-related epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. This case-control study enrolled 109 women (34 cases and 75 controls) between January 2018 and March 2020. Adipose tissue samples and endometriotic tissues were intraoperatively collected to determine concentrations of nine POPs and the gene expression profiles of 36 EMT-related genes, respectively. Associations of POPs with endometriosis risk were explored with multivariate logistic regression, while the relationship between exposure and gene expression profiles was assessed through Spearman correlation or Mann-Whitney U tests. After adjustment, increased endometriosis risk was associated with -DDT, PCB-180, and ΣPCBs. POP exposure was also associated with reduced gene expression levels of the CLDN7 epithelial marker and increased levels of the ITGB2 mesenchymal marker and a variety of EMT promoters (HMGA1, HOXA10, FOXM1, DKK1, CCR1, TNFRSF1B, RRM2, ANG, ANGPT1, and ESR1). Our findings indicate that exposure to POPs may increase the risk of endometriosis and might have a role in the endometriosis-related EMT development, contributing to the disease onset and progression. Further studies are warranted to corroborate these findings.

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