Special Issue "Effects of Food Contaminants on Human Health"

A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Toxicology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 November 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Pauline M Anton
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Transformations et Agro-Ressources, Institut Polytechnique UniLaSalle, Université d’Artois, URL-7519, France
Interests: gut–brain–microbiota axis; immuno-endocrine gut homeostasis settlement; developmental origins of health and diseases; human nutrition; toxic residues in food; genome and epigenome alterations; inflammatory cell signaling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The production, processing, and preservation of food are associated with the appearance, disappearance, or structural modifications of many toxic substances (phytochemical residues, neoformed compounds, packaging migrants, etc.), to which we are all exposed on a daily basis. In the past couple of years, there has been growing attention paid to the public health consequences of environmental factors to which such substances belong, but too few studies have focused on specific periods of the lifespan during which we may be particularly vulnerable to such substances. Among these critical periods, the perinatal period is now recognized as being very sensitive to environmental toxic chemicals coming from food due to the programming of the main body systems in charge of preserving our health later in life.

This Special Issue aims to present research studies evidencing the influence of these potentially toxic molecules (pesticides residues, heavy metals, Maillard reaction products, packaging migrants, etc.) in human pathophysiology, with a specific focus on the perinatal stage. Studies may include, but are not limited to, the preclinical or clinical assessment of early disruption of settlement and maturation of the crosstalks between the gut, and the immune system leading to altered gut homeostasis due to maternal or progeny exposure to these toxics.

Dr. Pauline M Anton
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • low-grade inflammation
  • pesticide residues
  • heavy metals
  • Maillard reaction products
  • DoHaD
  • exposome

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Food Contaminants Effects on an In Vitro Model of Human Intestinal Epithelium
Toxics 2021, 9(6), 135; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics9060135 - 09 Jun 2021
Viewed by 778
Abstract
Pesticide residues represent an important category of food contaminants. Furthermore, during food processing, some advanced glycation end-products resulting from the Maillard reaction can be formed. They may have adverse health effects, in particular on the digestive tract function, alone and combined. We sought [...] Read more.
Pesticide residues represent an important category of food contaminants. Furthermore, during food processing, some advanced glycation end-products resulting from the Maillard reaction can be formed. They may have adverse health effects, in particular on the digestive tract function, alone and combined. We sought to validate an in vitro model of the human intestinal barrier to mimic the effects of these food contaminants on the epithelium. A co-culture of Caco-2/TC7 cells and HT29-MTX was stimulated for 6 h with chlorpyrifos (300 μM), acrylamide (5 mM), Nε-Carboxymethyllysine (300 μM) alone or in cocktail with a mix of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The effects of those contaminants on the integrity of the gut barrier and the inflammatory response were analyzed. Since the co-culture responded to inflammatory stimulation, we investigated whether this model could be used to evaluate the effects of food contaminants on the human intestinal epithelium. CPF alone affected tight junctions’ gene expression, without inducing any inflammation or alteration of intestinal permeability. CML and acrylamide decreased mucins gene expression in the intestinal mucosa, but did not affect paracellular intestinal permeability. CML exposure activated the gene expression of MAPK pathways. The co-culture response was stable over time. This cocktail of food contaminants may thus alter the gut barrier function. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Food Contaminants on Human Health)
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Communication
Increased PACAP- and DβH-Positive Hepatic Nerve Fibers after Bisphenol A Exposure
Toxics 2021, 9(5), 110; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics9050110 - 18 May 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 437
Abstract
Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine-disrupting compound (EDC) that can be found nearly everywhere in our polluted world. BPA has been correlated with pathophysiologies that include psychological disorders, especially in children. This study used juvenile porcine models to investigate the effects of BPA [...] Read more.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine-disrupting compound (EDC) that can be found nearly everywhere in our polluted world. BPA has been correlated with pathophysiologies that include psychological disorders, especially in children. This study used juvenile porcine models to investigate the effects of BPA on the liver of developing vertebrates in order to determine the effects of BPA on innervated hepatic samples with the use of double-labeled immunofluorescence. This study specifically investigated the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) colocalized with a specific neural marker (PACAP) that has previously been correlated with specific pathophysiologies in the literature. In the liver, it was observed that there were significantly increased nerve fibers in the SNS colocalized with the neural marker PACAP after exposure to BPA at concentrations considered to be “safe” with the same or more profound effects at higher exposure levels. The implications of childhood exposure to BPA are then discussed with regard to several correlation studies that have linked BPA exposure to behavioral/psychological disorders. It is possible that BPA exposure in childhood may upregulate the SNS and PACAP levels, thereby contributing to the correlations in the literature. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Food Contaminants on Human Health)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Food contaminants effects on in vitro model of human intestinal epithelium

Marion Guibourdenche, Johanna Haug, Noellie Chevalier, Madeleine Spatz, Nicolas Barbezier, Jérôme, Gay-Quéheillard, and Pauline M Anton

Abstract: Pesticides residues represent an important category of food contaminants. Furthermore, during food transformation, some advanced glycation end-products resulting from the Maillard Reaction can be formed. They may have adverse health effects, in particular on the digestive tract function, separately and together. We aimed to improve an in vitro model of human intestinal barrier to mimic the effects of these food contaminants on the epithelium. A coculture of Caco-2/TC7 cells & HT29-MTX has been stimulated for 6h with chlorpyrifos (300μM), acrylamide (5μM), Ne(6)-Car- boxymethyllysin (300μM) alone or in cocktail vs. a mix of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Effects of those contaminants on the integrity of gut barrier and the inflammatory response were analyzed. Since the coculture was responding to an inflammatory stimulation, we investigated if this model could be used to evaluate the consequence of food contaminants on the human intestinal epithelium. CPF only affected tight junction’s gene expression, without inducing any inflammation or alteration of intestinal permeability. CML and acrylamide decreased mucins’ gene expression in the intestinal mucosa, but did not affect paracellular intestinal permeability. CML exposure activated the gene expression of MAPK pathways. The coculture displayed a homogeneous response over time. Cock- tail of food contaminants may thus alter the gut barrier function.


Keywords: Intestinal barrier; Caco-2/TC7; HT29-MTX; Chlorpyrifos; AGEs; Food contaminants.

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