Fw: [DiabEnv] NTP workshop report now published

[John]

From: Sarah Howard

Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2012 11:44 AM

To: diabetesand...@googlegroups.com

Subject: [DiabEnv] NTP workshop report now published

 

The US National Toxicology Program has just published a report from last year's meeting on chemicals in diabetes and obesity:

http://tinyurl.com/8a9c8ef

Role of Environmental Chemicals in Diabetes and Obesity: A National Toxicology Program Workshop Report

Kristina A. Thayer, Jerrold J. Heindel, John R. Bucher, Michael A. Gallo

Abstract

Background: There has been increasing interest in the concept that exposures to environmental chemicals may be contributing factors to the epidemics of diabetes and obesity. On January 11-13, 2011 the Division of the National Toxicology Program (NTP) organized a workshop to evaluate the current state of the science on these topics of increasing public health concern.

Objective: The main objective of the workshop was to develop recommendations for a research agenda following a critical analysis of the literature for humans and experimental animals exposed to certain environmental chemicals. The environmental exposures considered at the workshop were arsenic, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), maternal smoking/nicotine, organotins, phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), and pesticides. High throughput screening data from Tox21 were also considered as a way to evaluate potential cellular pathways and generate hypotheses for testing which and how certain chemicals might perturb biological processes related to diabetes and obesity.

Conclusions: Overall, the review of the existing literature identified linkages between several of the environmental exposures and type 2 diabetes. There was also support for the “developmental obesogen” hypothesis, which suggests that chemical exposures may increase the risk of obesity by altering the differentiation of adipocytes or the development of neural circuits that regulate feeding behavior. The effects may be most apparent when the developmental exposure is combined with consumption of a high-calorie, high-carbohydrate, or high-fat diet later in life. Research on environmental chemical exposures and type 1 diabetes was very limited. This lack of research was considered a critical data gap. This workshop report outlines the major themes that emerged from the workshop and discusses activities that NIEHS and NTP are undertaking to address research recommendations. This report also serves as an introduction to a series of papers that will review the literature regarding specific exposures and outcomes in more detail.

Thayer KA, Heindel JJ, Bucher JR, Gallo MA, 2012 Role of Environmental Chemicals in Diabetes and Obesity: A National Toxicology Program Workshop Report. Environ Health Perspect doi:10.1289/ehp.1104597