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Pediatrics

Cadmium exposure increases the risk of juvenile obesity: a human and zebrafish comparative study

International Journal of Obesity volume 42, pages 1285–1295 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

Human obesity is a complex metabolic disorder disproportionately affecting people of lower socioeconomic strata, and ethnic minorities, especially African Americans and Hispanics. Although genetic predisposition and a positive energy balance are implicated in obesity, these factors alone do not account for the excess prevalence of obesity in lower socioeconomic populations. Therefore, environmental factors, including exposure to pesticides, heavy metals, and other contaminants, are agents widely suspected to have obesogenic activity, and they also are spatially correlated with lower socioeconomic status. Our study investigates the causal relationship between exposure to the heavy metal, cadmium (Cd), and obesity in a cohort of children and in a zebrafish model of adipogenesis.

Design

An extensive collection of first trimester maternal blood samples obtained as part of the Newborn Epigenetics Study (NEST) was analyzed for the presence of Cd, and these results were cross analyzed with the weight-gain trajectory of the children through age 5 years. Next, the role of Cd as a potential obesogen was analyzed in an in vivo zebrafish model.

Results

Our analysis indicates that the presence of Cd in maternal blood during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of juvenile obesity in the offspring, independent of other variables, including lead (Pb) and smoking status. Our results are recapitulated in a zebrafish model, in which exposure to Cd at levels approximating those observed in the NEST study is associated with increased adiposity.

Conclusion

Our findings identify Cd as a potential human obesogen. Moreover, these observations are recapitulated in a zebrafish model, suggesting that the underlying mechanisms may be evolutionarily conserved, and that zebrafish may be a valuable model for uncovering pathways leading to Cd-mediated obesity in human populations.

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Acknowledgements

We thank participants of the NEST project. We also acknowledge Stacy Murray, Kennetra Irby, Siobhan Greene, and Anna Tsent for recruiting NEST participants, Carole Grenier and Erin Erginer for technical assistance, Carson Lunsford for assistance with the zebrafish lipid assay, and David C. Cole for zebrafish husbandry. AJG was supported by the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Institutional Training grant number T32ES007046. This publication was supported in part by NIH under award numbers P30ES025128 (CH, CJM, AP) and R01ES016772 (CH), and by a generous donation from Howard and Julia Clark.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

    Adrian J. Green, Cathrine Hoyo, Carolyn J. Mattingly, David B. Buchwalter & Antonio Planchart

  2. Center for Human Health and the Environment, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

    Cathrine Hoyo, Carolyn J. Mattingly, David B. Buchwalter & Antonio Planchart

  3. Department of Statistics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

    Yiwen Luo & Jung-Ying Tzeng

  4. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Gynecological Oncology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, 27710, USA

    Susan K. Murphy

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  1. Adrian J. Green
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Correspondence to Antonio Planchart.

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Green, A.J., Hoyo, C., Mattingly, C.J. et al. Cadmium exposure increases the risk of juvenile obesity: a human and zebrafish comparative study. Int J Obes 42, 1285–1295 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-018-0036-y

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