草甘膦(N-(膦酰基甲基)甘氨酸)是一种广谱的系统性除草剂和作物干燥剂。长期以来,人们一直怀疑草甘膦会导致癌症的发展和影响生育能力。除草剂越来越被认为是表观遗传修饰剂,草甘膦对人类和动物健康的影响可能是由表观遗传修饰介导的。本文介绍了动物研究的结果,其中猪在喂食时暴露于草甘膦。实验设置包括一个对照组,没有草甘膦添加到饲料和两组猪20ppm和200ppm的草甘膦添加到饲料,分别。暴露后,猪被解剖,和小肠组织,肝脏,和肾脏用于DNA甲基化和基因表达分析。在小肠中没有发现全局DNA甲基化的显著变化,肾,或者肝脏。确定了参与各种功能如DNA修复和免疫防御的所选基因的甲基化状态。在IL18启动子的CpG岛中,我们观察到某些个别CpG位置的DNA甲基化显著降低。然而,DNA甲基化的这种变化对IL18mRNA表达没有影响。DNA甲基化酶DNMT1、DNMT3A、在小肠中测量DNMT3B,肾,和暴露于草甘膦的猪的肝脏。在膳食暴露于20和200ppm草甘膦后,这些酶的相对基因表达没有发现显著变化。相比之下,负责去甲基化的TET3酶的表达显着增加,在暴露于200ppm草甘膦的肾脏中观察到。
Glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine) is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide and crop desiccant. Glyphosate has long been suspected of leading to the development of cancer and of compromising fertility. Herbicides have been increasingly recognized as epigenetic modifiers, and the impact of glyphosate on human and animal health might be mediated by epigenetic modifications. This article presents the results from an animal study where pigs were exposed to glyphosate while feeding. The experimental setup included a control group with no glyphosate added to the feed and two groups of pigs with 20 ppm and 200 ppm of glyphosate added to the feed, respectively. After exposure, the pigs were dissected, and tissues of the small intestine, liver, and kidney were used for DNA methylation and gene expression analyses. No significant change in global DNA methylation was found in the small intestine, kidney, or liver. Methylation status was determined for selected genes involved in various functions such as DNA repair and immune defense. In a CpG island of the promoter for IL18, we observed significantly reduced DNA methylation for certain individual CpG positions. However, this change in DNA methylation had no influence on IL18 mRNA expression. The expression of the DNA methylation enzymes DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B was measured in the small intestine, kidney, and liver of pigs exposed to glyphosate. No significant changes in relative gene expression were found for these enzymes following dietary exposure to 20 and 200 ppm glyphosate. In contrast, a significant increase in expression of the enzyme TET3, responsible for demethylation, was observed in kidneys exposed to 200 ppm glyphosate.