Wadsworth Center, NY State Department of Health, 120 New Scotland Ave., Albany, NY 12208, United States.
Physiol Behav. 2010 Jun 1;100(3):245-9. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2010.01.011. Epub 2010 Jan 25.
Brominated flame retardants, including Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been used at increasing levels in home furnishings and electronics over the past 25 years. They have also become widespread environmental pollutants. High PBDE levels have been detected in food, household dust, and indoor air, with subsequent appearance in animal and human tissues. This minireview summarizes studies on the extent to which these compounds can act as potent thyroid hormone mimetics, and emerging studies on long-term neurological effects of acute administration of PBDEs during development. When these data are considered in combination with the extensive literature on stage-dependent effects of thyroid hormone on aspects of brain development that are also implicated in autistic brains, a hypothesis that PBDEs might also serve as autism risk factors emerges. Studies designed to explicitly test this hypothesis will require chronic exposure paradigms, and specific body burden and behavioral monitoring in animal models. Such testing may help to prioritize extensive human epidemiological studies, as well as offer protocols for evaluation of future compounds.
溴化阻燃剂，包括多溴二苯醚（PBDEs），在过去 25 年中在家居装饰和电子产品中的使用量不断增加。它们也已成为广泛的环境污染物。在食品、家庭灰尘和室内空气中都检测到了高浓度的 PBDE，随后在动物和人体组织中也出现了这些物质。这篇综述总结了这些化合物作为甲状腺激素类似物的作用程度，以及急性给予 PBDE 对发育过程中神经长期影响的新兴研究。当将这些数据与关于甲状腺激素对大脑发育方面的阶段性影响的大量文献相结合，这些方面也与自闭症大脑有关，就出现了一个假设，即 PBDE 也可能是自闭症的风险因素。旨在明确检验这一假设的研究需要在动物模型中进行慢性暴露实验，并进行特定的身体负荷和行为监测。这种测试可能有助于优先进行广泛的人类流行病学研究，并提供评估未来化合物的方案。
