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Review
. 2021 Dec 28;12(1):44.
doi: 10.3390/biom12010044.

Environmental Contaminants Acting as Endocrine Disruptors Modulate Atherogenic Processes: New Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases in Women?

Silvia Migliaccio  1 , Viviana M Bimonte  1 , Zein Mersini Besharat  2 , Claudia Sabato  2 , Andrea Lenzi  2 , Clara Crescioli  1 , Elisabetta Ferretti  2
Affiliations
Review

Environmental Contaminants Acting as Endocrine Disruptors Modulate Atherogenic Processes: New Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases in Women?

Silvia Migliaccio et al. Biomolecules. .

Abstract

The number of aged individuals is increasing worldwide, rendering essential the comprehension of pathophysiological mechanisms of age-related alterations, which could facilitate the development of interventions contributing to "successful aging" and improving quality of life. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) include pathologies affecting the heart or blood vessels, such as hypertension, peripheral artery disease and coronary heart disease. Indeed, age-associated modifications in body composition, hormonal, nutritional and metabolic factors, as well as a decline in physical activity are all involved in the increased risk of developing atherogenic alterations that raise the risk of CVD development. Several factors have been reported to play a role in the alterations observed in muscle and endothelial cells and that lead to increased CVD, such as genetic pattern, smoking and unhealthy lifestyle. Moreover, a difference in the risk of these diseases in women and men has been reported. Interestingly, in the past decades attention has been focused on a potential role of several pollutants that disrupt human health by interfering with hormonal pathways, and more specifically in non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes and CVD. This review will focus on the potential alteration induced by Endocrine Disruptors (Eds) in the attempt to characterize a potential role in the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the atheromatous degeneration process and CVD progression.

Keywords: atherosclerosis; bisphenol A; cadmium; cardiovascular diseases; endocrine disruptors; inflammatory cytokines; women.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of the record screening and selection process leading to the inclusion of 100 studies.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk factors for CVD. As the main risk factors related to CVD development exhibit sex-dimorphism, sex-dependent effects of Eds are conceivable as well.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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