Assessment of the endocrine-disrupting potential of halogenated parabens: An in silico approach. (February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jakopin, Žiga
• Is Part Of: Chemosphere. Volume 264(2021)Part 1
• Publication Date: 2021-02
• Subjects: Parabens -- Chlorinated and brominated parabens -- Halogenated transformation products -- Endocrine disruption -- In silico; AhR aryl hydrocarbon receptor -- AR androgen receptor -- AR an antagonistic conformation of androgen receptor -- BnP benzyl paraben -- BP butyl paraben -- EC50 half maximal effective concentration -- EP ethyl paraben -- ERα estrogen receptor α -- ERα an antagonistic conformation of estrogen receptor α -- ERβ estrogen receptor β -- ERβ an antagonistic conformation of estrogen receptor β -- GR glucocorticoid receptor -- GR an antagonistic conformation of glucocorticoid receptor -- iBP iso-butyl paraben -- IC50 half maximal inhibitory concentration -- iPP iso-propyl paraben -- LXRα liver X receptor α -- LXRβ liver X receptor β -- MP methyl paraben -- PHBA para-hydroxybenzoic acid -- PP propyl paraben -- PPARα peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α -- PPARβ peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor β -- PPARγ peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ -- REC10 10% relative effective concentration of 5 nM 17β-estradiol -- REC25 25% of the maximal response to β-naphthoflavone -- REC60 60% relative effective concentration of 50 μM 4-hydroxytamoxifen -- RXRα retinoid X receptor α -- TP transformation products -- TRα thyroid receptor α -- TRβ thyroid receptor β; Pollution -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Physiological effect -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Atmospheric chemistry -- Periodicals; 551.511
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.128447
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0045-6535

Abstract

Abstract: Parabens are endocrine-disrupting chemicals present in a variety of pharmaceutical and personal care products. Due to their wide-spread use, significant amounts are also released into the aquatic domain of the environment. During water disinfection, parabens give rise to halogenated transformation products. As opposed to parabens, there is considerable lack of knowledge with regard to the endocrine-disrupting potential of their halogenated counterparts, which presents a challenge for regulatory decision making. We aimed to fill this knowledge gap by using the Endocrine Disruptome and VirtualToxLab™ to predict their endocrine-disrupting potential on the basis of calculated affinities for different nuclear receptors. The applied computational approach indicates a high probability of halogenated parabens binding to glucocorticoid, thyroid and aryl hydrocarbon receptors and suggests that disinfection is likely to form transformation products with more pronounced endocrine-disrupting activities than those of parent parabens. The obtained results not only highlight the need for additional in vitro / in vivo investigations of these chemicals as endocrine disruptors but also provide a means of guiding and prioritizing these future studies, in order to assess fully their hazard to human health. Highlights: endocrine-disrupting potential of halogenated parabens was investigated in silico . Halogenation can increase the endocrine-disrupting activity of parent parabens. Monohalogenated benzyl parabens were identified as most potent endocrine disruptors.