Researchers link environmental exposures to liver disease

• They detected 83 environmental chemicals in patients in the U.S. and Norway at statistically similar concentrations.
• U.S. patients showed higher environmental chemical bile content and increased links between chemicals and metabolic pathways within their bile than in Norway.
• Researchers identified polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-118 and PCB-101 chemicals of interest for additional study, given those chemicals’ broad connections with metabolic pathways in the U.S. and Norwegian patients. These are highly stable organic chemicals that were widely used in plasticizers, paints and electrical equipment until they were banned by the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants.
• Glycan degradation pathways were associated with one or multiple environmental chemicals in both samples of patients. Glycans are crucial in gut regulation and may be linked to the disease’s cause.

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