Back to Search
Start Over
Sex-Dependent Effects of Cadmium Exposure in Early Life on Gut Microbiota and Fat Accumulation in Mice
- Source :
- Environmental Health Perspectives
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- Environmental Health Perspectives, 2017.
-
Abstract
- Background: Environmental cadmium, with a high average dietary intake, is a severe public health risk. However, the long-term health implications of environmental exposure to cadmium in different life stages remain unclear. Objectives: We investigated the effects of early exposure to cadmium, at an environmentally relevant dosage, on adult metabolism and the mechanism of action. Methods: We established mouse models with low-dose cadmium (LDC) exposure in early life to examine the long-term metabolic consequences. Intestinal flora measurement by 16S rDNA sequencing, microbial ecological analyses, and fecal microbiota transplant was conducted to explore the potential underlying mechanisms. Results: Early LDC exposure (100 nM) led to fat accumulation in adult male mice. Hepatic genes profiling revealed that fatty acid and lipid metabolic processes were elevated. Gut microbiota were perturbed by LDC to cause diversity reduction and compositional alteration. Time-series studies indicated that the gut flora at early-life stages, especially at 8 weeks, were vulnerable to LDC and that an alteration during this period could contribute to the adult adiposity, even if the microbiota recovered later. The importance of intestinal bacteria in LDC-induced fat accumulation was further confirmed through microbiota transplantation and removal experiments. Moreover, the metabolic effects of LDC were observed only in male, but not female, mice. Conclusions: An environmental dose of cadmium at early stages of life causes gut microbiota alterations, accelerates hepatic lipid metabolism, and leads to life-long metabolic consequences in a sex-dependent manner. These findings provide a better understanding of the health risk of cadmium in the environment. Citation: Ba Q, Li M, Chen P, Huang C, Duan X, Lu L, Li J, Chu R, Xie D, Song H, Wu Y, Ying H, Jia X, Wang H. 2017. Sex-dependent effects of cadmium exposure in early life on gut microbiota and fat accumulation in mice. Environ Health Perspect 125:437–446; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP360
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Population
chemistry.chemical_element
Physiology
010501 environmental sciences
Biology
Gut flora
medicine.disease_cause
01 natural sciences
Hazardous Substances
Mice
03 medical and health sciences
medicine
Animals
Obesity
education
Adiposity
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
chemistry.chemical_classification
Cadmium
education.field_of_study
Research
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Fatty acid
Metabolism
Environmental exposure
Lipid Metabolism
biology.organism_classification
Gastrointestinal Microbiome
Transplantation
030104 developmental biology
Liver
chemistry
Biochemistry
Oxidative stress
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15529924 and 00916765
- Volume :
- 125
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Environmental Health Perspectives
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....35605f1b9accedc557aff1ef6451a3e2