ArticleEndocrine2020
Perfluoroalkyl substances and bone health in young men: a pilot study.
Article in Endocrine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems: Environmental Exposure and Human Health Risks.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate promote osteoclastogenesis in vitro through the activation of hemichannels.Archives of toxicology · 2026Article
- Per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) promote osteoclastogenesis and bone loss through PPARα activation.Toxicology reports · 2025Article
- 1α,25(OH)Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2025Article
- Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances and longitudinal changes in bone mineral density in adolescents and young adults: A multi-cohort study.Environmental research · 2024Article
- Association between perfluoroalkyl substances concentration and bone mineral density in the US adolescents aged 12-19 years in NHANES 2005-2010.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Article
- Associations of single and multiple per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure with vitamin D biomarkers in African American women during pregnancy.Environmental research · 2021Article
- Associations of Maternal Serum Perfluoroalkyl Substances Concentrations with Early Adolescent Bone Mineral Content and Density: The Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment (HOME) Study.Environmental health perspectives · 2021Article
- Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Toxicity and Human Health Review: Current State of Knowledge and Strategies for Informing Future Research.Environmental toxicology and chemistry · 2021Review
- Legacy and Emerging Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances: Analytical Techniques, Environmental Fate, and Health Effects.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Endocrine disruption of vitamin D activity by perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA).Scientific reports · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposePerfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Toxicological studies indicate that PFAS accumulate in bone tissue and could cause alterations in bone metabolism. The primary objective of this study was to examine the association between PFAS exposure and bone status in a cohort of young men resident in a well-defined area with high PFAS environmental pollution.
methodsBone status was assessed in 117 subjects aged 18-21 by quantitative ultrasound (QUS) at the heel. Subjects underwent an accurate medical visit. Socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle, and medical histories were collected. We also verified the interaction between PFAS and hydroxyapatite by computational modelling. The organic anion-transporting peptide (OATP), the putative transporter of PFAS, was evaluated by qPCR in bone biopsies from femoral heads discarded during arthroplasty in three male subjects.
resultsExposed subjects showed significantly lower stiffness index, which resulted in lower t-score and higher prevalence of subjects at medium-high risk of fracture (23.6%) compared with controls (9.7%). Data from computational modelling suggested that PFOA exhibits a high affinity for hydroxyapatite, since the estimated change in free energy is in the order of that exhibited by bisphosphonates. Finally, we observed consistent expression of OATP1A2 gene in primary human osteoblasts.
conclusionsThis is the first study reporting increased osteoporosis risk in young men exposed to PFAS and provide preliminary information on molecular mechanisms that could explain this observation, in agreement with previous studies on animal models and humans. However, these results must be interpreted with caution given the cross-sectional study design and the small number of cases.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.