Investigating the Relationship Between Pollutant Concentrations in Human Pancreas and Adipose Tissues and Beta-cell Dysfunction

Abstract

Epidemiological studies consistently report an association between circulating concentrations of persistent organic pollutants and increased diabetes risk in humans. We hypothesize that lipophilic pollutants accumulate in human pancreas tissue and cause beta-cell injury. To test this hypothesis, we measured the concentration of persistent pollutants from 3 chemical classes (dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs] and organochlorine pesticides [OCPs]) in pancreas and adipose tissues from 30 organ donors using GC-MS/MS.