Does dietary intake of the plasticizer DINCH affect the development of obesity in mice?

Obesity is promoted by extrinsic processes in the form of environmental influences in addition to intrinsic factors such as adipose tissue (AT) dysfunction, tissue stress, and activation of inflammatory processes. These factors may contribute to AT heterogeneity, either alone or in interaction with other biological factors. Therefore, we investigated the in vivo effects of ingestion of the plasticizer 1,2-cyclohexanedioic acid diisononyl ester (DINCH) in C57BL/6 mice.

Analogous to their feeding, we divided C57BL/6NTac mice (N= 144, female N= 72; male N=72) into four groups: two control diets containing standard chow and high-fat diet (HFD), and two experimental diets based on the HFD containing 4 500 ppm and 15 000 ppm DINCH. The diets were fed ad libitum for 16 weeks. To check for a possible washout effect, a subgroup of 80 animals received a standard diet for 10 weeks after the 16 weeks. During the experiment, weight, blood glucose, insulin tolerance, and body composition (fat mass/lean mass) were measured at regular intervals, and energy metabolism was measured in metabolic chambers at the end of the observation period.

DINCH-treated mice exhibited sex-specific significant changes in body weight, adipose tissue distribution, and glucose metabolism compared with control diet animals.

The data support the hypothesis that the intake of the emollient DINCH may play an important role in the development of AT dysfunction in obesity and possibly its concomitant diseases.

Alexandra Schaffert, Isabel Karkossa, Elke Ueberham, Rita Schlichting, Katharina Walter, Josi Arnold, Matthias Blüher, John T. Heiker, Jörg Lehmann, Martin Wabitsch, Beate I. Escher, Martin von Bergen, Kristin Schubert, Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate substitutes accelerate human adipogenesis through PPARγ activation and cause oxidative stress and impaired metabolic homeostasis in mature adipocytes, Environment International, Volume 164, 2022, ISSN 0160-4120,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107279.

Publication History

Article published online:
02 May 2023