Environmental Pollution to Blame for Depressive Disorder?

Mariana Segovia-Mendoza, Margarita Isabel Palacios-Arreola, Lenin Pavón, Luis Enrique Becerril, Karen Elizabeth Nava-Castro, Omar Amador-Muñoz and Jorge Morales-Montor
Additional contact information
Mariana Segovia-Mendoza: Departamento de Farmacología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de Mexico 04510, Mexico
Margarita Isabel Palacios-Arreola: Grupo de Especiación Química de Aerosoles Orgánicos Atmosféricos, Instituto de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y Cambio Climático, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de Mexico 04510, Mexico
Lenin Pavón: Laboratory of Psychoimmunology, National Institute of Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Calzada México-Xochimilco 101, Colonia San Lorenzo Huipulco, Tlalpan, Ciudad de Mexico 14370, Mexico
Luis Enrique Becerril: Laboratory of Psychoimmunology, National Institute of Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Calzada México-Xochimilco 101, Colonia San Lorenzo Huipulco, Tlalpan, Ciudad de Mexico 14370, Mexico
Karen Elizabeth Nava-Castro: Grupo de Biología y Química Atmosférica, Instituto de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y Cambio Climático, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de Mexico 04510, Mexico
Omar Amador-Muñoz: Grupo de Especiación Química de Aerosoles Orgánicos Atmosféricos, Instituto de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y Cambio Climático, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de Mexico 04510, Mexico
Jorge Morales-Montor: Departamento de Inmunología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de Mexico 04510, Mexico

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-13

Abstract: Public concern has emerged about the effects of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) on neuropsychiatric disorders. Preclinical evidence suggests that exposure to EDCs is associated with the development of major depressive disorder (MDD) and could result in neural degeneration. The interaction of EDCs with hormonal receptors is the best-described mechanism of their biological activity. However, the dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal adrenal axis has been reported and linked to neurological disorders. At a worldwide level and in Mexico, the incidence of MDD has recently been increasing. Of note, in Mexico, there are no clinical associations on blood levels of EDCs and the incidence of the MDD. Methodology: Thus, we quantified for the first time the serum levels of parent compounds of two bisphenols and four phthalates in patients with MDD. The levels of di-ethyl-hexyl-phthalate (DEHP), butyl-benzyl-phthalate (BBP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), and di-ethyl-phthalate (DEP), bisphenol A (BPA), and bisphenol S (BPS) in men and women with or without MDD were determined with a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer. Results/conclusion: We found significant differences between concentrations of BBP between controls and patients with MDD. Interestingly, the serum levels of this compound have a dysmorphic behavior, being much higher in women (~500 ng/mL) than in men (≤10 ng/mL). We did not observe significant changes in the serum concentrations of the other phthalates or bisphenols tested, neither when comparing healthy and sick subjects nor when they were compared by gender. The results point out that BBP has a critical impact on the etiology of MDD disorder in Mexican patients, specifically in women.

Keywords: depression; serum levels; phthalates; bisphenols (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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