Early life environmental factors have a profound impact on neurodevelopment. Among them, pesticides have a crucial role as they are used in agriculture and consequently they enter directly into the food chain. Postnatal age in rats is a significant window of cellular plasticity because, during this time, brain growth and development have to be completed. The presence of environmental factors (i.e. pesticides, food, etc.) can epigenetically modify the gene expression promoting diseases later in life. The correlation between epigenetic modifications and the onset of diseases is increasingly supported, and their potentially reversible feature opens new ways of investigations for innovative and preventive approaches. Our previous studies indicated that pup rats treated with the pyrethroid insecticide permethrin, during brain development (from 6th to 21th day of life) develop long term effects leading to a Parkinson-like disease (PD). Data on plasma and hair show that early life environmental exposure to xenobiotic influence the immune and redox systems as well as the metal content in hair, and that these outcomes could be used as early peripheral biomarkers to monitor the progression of Parkinson-like disease.
Early Biomarkers of Parkinson-like disease
GABBIANELLI, Rosita;FEDELI, Donatella;VINCENZETTI, Silvia;FERRARO, Stefano;GIOVANNETTI, Rita;NASUTI, Cinzia Carla
2015-01-01
Abstract
Early life environmental factors have a profound impact on neurodevelopment. Among them, pesticides have a crucial role as they are used in agriculture and consequently they enter directly into the food chain. Postnatal age in rats is a significant window of cellular plasticity because, during this time, brain growth and development have to be completed. The presence of environmental factors (i.e. pesticides, food, etc.) can epigenetically modify the gene expression promoting diseases later in life. The correlation between epigenetic modifications and the onset of diseases is increasingly supported, and their potentially reversible feature opens new ways of investigations for innovative and preventive approaches. Our previous studies indicated that pup rats treated with the pyrethroid insecticide permethrin, during brain development (from 6th to 21th day of life) develop long term effects leading to a Parkinson-like disease (PD). Data on plasma and hair show that early life environmental exposure to xenobiotic influence the immune and redox systems as well as the metal content in hair, and that these outcomes could be used as early peripheral biomarkers to monitor the progression of Parkinson-like disease.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
