Study of BDE-47 induced Parkinson’s disease-like metabolic changes in C57BL/6 mice by integrated metabolomic, lipidomic and proteomic analysis

As the predominant congener of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) detected in human serum, 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) has been reported to induce neurotoxicity. However, the possible linkage between BDE-47 and typical neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) is still unclear. Here we carried out omics studies using liquid chromatography-orbitrap mass spectrometry (LC-orbitrap MS) to depict the BDE-47 induced metabolic changes in C57BJ/L mice to explore the possible contribution of BDE-47 exposure to PD pathology. BDE-47 dissolved in corn oil was orally administered to mice for 30 consecutive days. Results of metabolomics and lipidomics studies of PD-related brain regions revealed significant metabolite changes in pathways involved in oxidative stress and neurotransmitter production. Moreover, isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) proteomics study of the striatum, which is the part of brain that is most intensively studied in PD pathogenesis, revealed that BDE-47 could induce neurotransmitter system disturbance, abnormal phosphorylation, mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress. Overall, this study depicts the possible contribution of BDE-47 exposure to PD pathology and highlights the powerfulness of omics platforms to deepen the mechanistic understanding of environmental pollutant-caused toxicity.