BPA & Brain Development

We already know bisphenol A (BPA) as an endocrine disruptor, carcinogen, and obesogen, but now it has been linked to altered brain and central nervous system (CNS) development prenatally.  BPA mimics estrogen and can be found in many everyday products, like the linings of metal cans, receipts, and even in our foods and drinks. BPA is banned in the European Union and Canada, but not the United States.

When neurons, or nerve cells, are growing, they rely on a local chloride levels to guide them to their correct location in the brain. Exposure to BPA disrupts this process.

"Over time, as the neurons mature, chloride is pumped out of the cells by a chloride transporter called KCC2. If chloride levels remain high, the neural circuits don’t form and connect properly."

In a new study by Dr. Wolfgang Liedtke and colleagues at Duke University found that;

"when exposing the neurons to minute amounts of BPA, the gene that makes KCC2 shut down, which kept chloride longer in the neurons. They suspect the BPA made a different type of protein -- known as MECP2 -- more abundant in neurons, which in turn bound to KCC2 and shut it down."

Credit: Michele Yeo, Duke Medicine

 
In Liedtke and colleague's study of rodent models, that was also "verified in human systems," both sexes were affected by BPA disruption, but females tended to be more susceptible to BPA's attack. Researchers proposed that this processes of BPA attack on cell development may hold clues on the development on autism and Rett syndrome. Fortunately, in rodents, the effects were reversible when treated with a drug that allowed the neurons to compensate for the excessive chloride levels. This study is just another reason for tougher regulation and bans on BPA in the US.

Sources

Time Magazine
CBS News
Duke Alert
Science Daily