Department of Internal Medicine, Eulji University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Diabetes Metab J. 2011 Jun;35(3):207-15. doi: 10.4093/dmj.2011.35.3.207. Epub 2011 Jun 30.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are known to cause mitochondrial dysfunction and this in turn is linked to insulin resistance, a key biochemical abnormality underlying the metabolic syndrome. To establish the cause and effect relationship between exposure to POPs and the development of the metabolic syndrome, Koch's postulates were considered. Problems arising from this approach were discussed and possible solutions were suggested. In particular, the difficulty of establishing a cause and effect relationship due to the vagueness of the metabolic syndrome as a disease entity was discussed. Recently a bioassay, aryl-hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) trans-activation activity using a cell line expressing AhR-luciferase, showed that its activity is linearly related with the parameters of the metabolic syndrome in a population. This finding suggests the possible role of bioassays in the analysis of multiple pollutants of similar kinds in the pathogenesis of several closely related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. Understanding the effects of POPs on mitochondrial function will be very useful in understanding the integration of various factors involved in this process, such as genes, fetal malnutrition and environmental toxins and their protectors, as mitochondria act as a unit according to the metabolic scaling law.
持久性有机污染物（POPs）已知会导致线粒体功能障碍，而这反过来又与胰岛素抵抗有关，胰岛素抵抗是代谢综合征的关键生化异常。为了确定接触 POPs 与代谢综合征发展之间的因果关系，考虑了 Koch 的假设。讨论了由此方法引起的问题，并提出了可能的解决方案。特别是，由于代谢综合征作为一种疾病实体的模糊性，讨论了确定因果关系的困难。最近，使用表达 AhR-荧光素酶的细胞系进行的芳香烃受体（AhR）转录激活活性的生物测定表明，其活性与人群中代谢综合征的参数呈线性相关。这一发现表明，生物测定法可能在分析几种密切相关疾病（如 2 型糖尿病和代谢综合征）发病机制中类似的多种污染物方面发挥作用。了解 POPs 对线粒体功能的影响对于理解这一过程中涉及的各种因素的整合将非常有用，例如基因、胎儿营养不良和环境毒素及其保护剂，因为线粒体根据代谢比例定律作为一个单元发挥作用。
