New Ohio Sea Grant Research finds pre-existing conditions could exacerbate health problems from toxin exposure

Researchers at The University of Toledo studying the health effects pharmaceuticals, plastics and forever chemicals found in our soil, water and air have found that pre-existing conditions, such as Type 2 diabetes, could increase susceptibility to the toxins.

With funding from Ohio Sea Grant, Associate Professors David Kennedy and Steven Haller at The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences used liver and kidney cells from biopsy samples donated by patients with and without diabetes to explore the issue.

Now they are working to find related prevention, diagnosis and treatment options for exposure to these toxins, known as “emergent chemicals.”

“Right now there are not commonly available tests for health care workers to use to detect and diagnose emergent chemical exposure events in their patients,” Haller said.

The researchers selected for their study abundant and representative chemicals that occur in the Great Lakes:

• Perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, used to make products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease and water. Known as a “forever chemical,” it does not break down in the environment and is linked to health problems including cancer.

• Polystyrene nanoplastics that can come from larger plastics that have broken apart; resin pellets used for plastic manufacturing; or microbeads, which are small, manufactured plastic beads used in health and beauty products.

• 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2), a synthetic hormone used in medications for humans as well as livestock and aquaculture activity and that contaminates raw and treated wastewater.

They found that in cells from liver and kidney biopsies, forever chemicals suppressed the immune response, nanoplastics increased inflammation and residual pharmaceuticals increased markers of kidney injury. In cells from patients with diabetes, those results were more pronounced, indicating those patients may be more susceptible to and have greater damage from the toxins.

“In diabetes, where you have a metabolic disorder, those pathways are already altered or dysregulated. When you add these chemicals on top, they further disturb those pathways, including fat or lipid metabolism,” Kennedy said, explaining that if the liver and kidney are storing fat rather than metabolizing it, they can’t properly perform their normal metabolic detoxification functions.

“Now that we know the specific molecular pathways that are dysregulated by these chemicals, we are in the process of validating specific therapeutic strategies, including lab developed peptides, that can potentially restore normal cell functioning after emergent chemical exposure,” said Kennedy.

Haller and Kennedy also will continue developing resources so health care providers can stay up to date with the emerging science.

“Our partnership with the Toledo Lucas County Health Department Environmental Pollutants Subcommittee has helped us identify new areas where our research can be applied to help in shared public health areas of concern,” said Haller. “For example, little is known about the impacts of these chemicals on maternal health or child development, so we are now in the process of designing studies to address these critical knowledge gaps.”

For more about the project, read the full Sea Grant story at https://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/news/2023/482eu/detecting-differences.