Project Overview
People are constantly exposed to plasticizers and UV filters, due to their constant use in the production of plastics, sunscreens and other cosmetic products. The ability of such chemical compounds has led to the disruption of endocrine signalling, leading to degradation in neurodevelopment and metabolism, and yet it has been unclear how these compounds affect the biological system. To understand the specifics, we raised Drosophila melanogaster (CSORC variant) as the animal model, that was fed with plasticizers BPA and DBP, and UV filter OMC. The last group contained the mixture of all three pollutants to study the synergistic effects of the pollutant mixture. With high throughput screening and RNA sequencing, it was found that the mixture of BPA/DBP/OMC affects the neurodevelopment and metabolism of the flies. To provide more detailed information, behavioural assays using the Locomotion Activity Monitor System and metabolic assays such as reduction of trehalose, glycogen, and glucose sugars were performed. It was found that the pollutant mixture affects neurodevelopment and metabolism even at the No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) concentration. This study is the first one to show the synergistic effects of man-made environmental pollutants at the organism level. Furthermore, the study must be made at the human cellular level (in vitro).
Drosophila melanogaster has proved to be useful in analysing the neurodevelopment and metabolism due to prolonged exposure to environmental pollutants BPA/DBP/OMC, which affect health by their synergistic effects. The flies were exposed to the pollutant mixture generation after generation to analyse them multiple times for effective results. From the study, one can learn that the pollutants affect the health of an organism when they are in synergy with different other pollutants, rather than when individually exposed. The high throughput screening showed that BPA and DBP reduce the sensory perception of the flies, whereas OMC reduces or disrupts the metabolic pathways in the flies. The glucose metabolism results also show the fact that glucose metabolism is not much affected when compared with trehalose and glycogen metabolisms for the flies exposed to the mixture of pollutants. The locomotive study also suggests that the neurodevelopment is partially affected at the NOAEL concentration of the pollutants, due to the synergistic effect. The mixture of all three pollutants brings out the synergistic effect of the pollutants in the flies, which is affecting both sensory perception and metabolic efficiency. This study has changed the perspective and opinions of the effects of environmental pollutants not only as carcinogenic but also as one of the factors of neurodegenerative diseases and metabolic disorders. Hence, all the aspects of one pollutant or a mixture of pollutants must be supposed to be analysed before declaring the standard awareness context.
