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Environ Health Perspect. 2006 January; 114(1): 106–112.
Published online 2005 September 20. doi: 10.1289/ehp.8451.
PMCID: PMC1332664
Research
The Estrogenic Effect of Bisphenol A Disrupts Pancreatic β-Cell Function In Vivo and Induces Insulin Resistance
Paloma Alonso-Magdalena,1 Sumiko Morimoto,1,2 Cristina Ripoll,1 Esther Fuentes,1 and Angel Nadal1
1Instituto de Bioingeniería, Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Alicante, Spain
2Departamento de Biología de la Reproducción, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición “Salvador Zubirán,” México City, México
Address correspondence to A. Nadal, Instituto de Bioingeniería, Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Carretera Alicante-Valencia Km 87, Sant Joan d’Alacant, 03550 Alicante, Spain. Telephone: 34-96-5919535. Fax: 34-96-5919547. E-mail: nadal@umh.es
The authors declare they have no competing financial interests.
Received June 30, 2005; Accepted September 19, 2005.
Abstract
The function of the pancreatic β-cell is the storage and release of insulin, the main hormone involved in blood glucose homeostasis. The results in this article show that the widespread environmental contaminant bisphenol-A (BPA) imitates 17β-estradiol (E2) effects in vivo on blood glucose homeostasis through genomic and nongenomic pathways. The exposure of adult mice to a single low dose (10 μg/kg) of either E2 or BPA induces a rapid decrease in glycemia that correlates with a rise of plasma insulin. Longer exposures to E2 and BPA induce an increase in pancreatic β-cell insulin content in an estrogen-receptor–dependent manner. This effect is visible after 2 days of treatment and starting at doses as low as 10 μg/kg/day. After 4 days of treatment with either E2 or BPA, these mice developed chronic hyperinsulinemia, and their glucose and insulin tolerance tests were altered. These experiments unveil the link between environmental estrogens and insulin resistance. Therefore, either abnormal levels of endogenous estrogens or environmental estrogen exposure enhances the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia.
Keywords: bisphenol A, diabetes, endocrine disruptors, estradiol, estrogen receptor, insulin, islet of Langerhans, nongenomic, xenoestrogens