Role of Pharmaceuticals as EDCs in Metabolic Disorders

Abstract

The endocrine system consisting of hormone producing endocrine glands and their receptors; do control, coordinate, and regulate a variety of crucial physiological functions in human body. The hormones, the chemical messengers which are secreted directly into circulatory system regulate body’s growth and development, embryonic development, and primary sex characters, etc. The endocrine system manages to regulate glucose and lipid metabolism. However, it has been observed that a number of exogenous chemicals could interfere with the normal functioning of the endocrine system; disrupt the hormonal-synthesis and secretions, their transportation process and binding properties, and finally their physiological actions. Thus, they are termed as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Unfortunately, such EDCs are ubiquitous in nature and move passively into human body through various unavoidable routes. They include but not limited to environmental toxicants, pesticides, herbicides, and pharmaceuticals. These EDCs impair the normal functions of hormones and the adverse effects are observed in the form of neurological disorders, sexual abnormalities in both genders, psychological and behavioral issues. They also cause metabolic disorders leading to obesity and type 2 diabetes. This chapter focuses on pharmaceutical products as EDCs and their role on incidence of insulin resistance and obesity. The pharmaceutical products could act as EDCs when they get discharged directly from pharmaceutical industries into environment through untreated wastewater. So, they could act as EDCs when they end up in normal human body through various routes and means. Secondly, the pharmaceutical products act as EDCs when they are used as medications for treatment of diseases but they show some undesirable off-target interaction with the endocrine system.