The laboratory of Dr. Angela Slitt, STEEP co-lead project 3 and Professor at the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy, recently published findings that PFOS administration can interfere with the benefits of calorie restriction in mice and in cell-based tests. Slitt’s laboratory demonstrated that PFOS administration interfered with liver fat loss and improvements in glucose metabolism that are associated with calorie restriction in laboratory mice. PFOS administration also interfered with the normal function of insulin to shut off glucose production by the liver.

When Slitt’s group used cell-based tests, they observed that PFOS treatment interfered with the effects of two different chemicals that are used as “calorie restriction mimetics.” PFOS treatment interfered with the antidiabetic activity of one of the most commonly used diabetes drugs, Metformin. Lastly, PFOS also induced adipogenesis in pre-adipocytes from human donors, suggesting that PFOS could have some pro-obesity effects and PFOS also interfered with Metformin’s beneficial effects in mature adipocytes.

Papers:

Amaeze, O., Eng, H., Horlbogen, L., Varma, M. V., & Slitt, A. (2021). Cytochrome P450 Enzyme Inhibition and Herb-Drug Interaction Potential of Medicinal Plant Extracts Used for Management of Diabetes in Nigeria. European Journal of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, 1-14.

Salter, D. M., Wei, W., Nahar, P. P., Marques, E., & Slitt, A. L. (2021). Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) thwarts the beneficial effects of calorie restriction and Metformin. Toxicological Sciences.

Hamilton, M. C., Heintz, M. M., Pfohl, M., Marques, E., Ford, L., Slitt, A. L., & Baldwin, W. S. (2021). Increased toxicity and retention of perflourooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in humanized CYP2B6-Transgenic mice compared to Cyp2b-null mice is relieved by a high-fat diet (HFD). Food and Chemical Toxicology, 112175.