ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2019
Depressive Symptoms After PCB Exposure: Hypotheses for Underlying Pathomechanisms via the Thyroid and Dopamine System.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Oxidative Stress, and Brain Health: Mechanistic Links to Neurodegenerative and Neurodevelopmental Diseases.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Patients with Allan-Herndon-Dudley Syndrome (MCT8 Deficiency) Display Symptoms of Parkinsonism in Childhood and Respond to Levodopa/Carbidopa Treatment.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2025Observational
- Early-life exposure to PCBs and PFAS exerts negative effects on the developing central nervous system.Journal of hazardous materials · 2025Review
- What is the relationship between exposure to environmental pollutants and severe mental disorders? A systematic review on shared biological pathways.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Review
- A prospective cohort study of persistent endocrine-disrupting chemicals and perceived stress.American journal of epidemiology · 2024Article
- Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), perceived stress, and depressive symptoms in a prospective cohort study of black women.The Science of the total environment · 2024Article
- Ten years after: findings from the medical surveillance program on Health Effects in High-Level Exposure to PCB (HELPcB).Archives of toxicology · 2023Review
- Community indicators for mental health in Europe: a scoping review.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Exposure to environmental chemicals and perinatal psychopathology.Biochemical pharmacology · 2022Review
- Shedding light on thyroid hormone disorders and Parkinson disease pathology: mechanisms and risk factors.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2021Review
- Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) and poly- and perfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposures during pregnancy and maternal depression.Environment international · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Polychlorinated biphenyls' (PCB) exposure has been reported to be associated with depressive symptoms, which is correlated to lower dopamine- (DA) and thyroxine-concentrations (T4). T4 is necessary for DA-synthesis and it binds to transthyretin (TTR) being transported into the brain. PCBs can displace T4 by binding to TTR itself, being transported into the brain and disturbing DA-synthesis, where depressive symptoms might occur. Consequently, the free T4-concentration (fT4) increases when PCBs bind to TTR. The interaction of PCBs with fT4 and its associations with the main DA metabolite, homovanillic acid (HVA), and depressive symptoms were investigated. In total, 116 participants (91.6% men) were investigated, who took part in three annual examinations (t1⁻t3) of the HELPcB health surveillance program. Blood was collected for measuring PCBs, hydroxy PCBs (OH-PCBs), and fT4 and urine for HVA. Depressive Symptoms were assessed with a standardized questionnaire. Interactions were tested cross-sectionally with multiple hierarchical regressions and longitudinally with mixed effect models. Related to HVA, an interaction was cross-sectionally found for lower-chlorinated PCBs (LPCBs) and dioxin-like PCBs (dlPCBs); longitudinally only for LPCBs. Related to depressive symptoms, the interaction was found for LPCBs, dlPCBs, and OH-PCBs; longitudinally again only for LPCBs. The results give first hints that a physiological process involving the thyroid and DA system is responsible for depressive symptoms after PCB exposure.
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