Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 28, 2025

Author Spotlight: Collecting the Brain and Serum from the Same Mice Fetus to Study Brain Tumor Development
Published on: May 17, 2024
Maternal paraben exposure triggers childhood overweight development
Beate Leppert1, Sandra Strunz1,2, Bettina Seiwert3
1Department for Environmental Immunology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.
Abstract:
Parabens are preservatives widely used in consumer products including cosmetics and food. Whether low-dose paraben exposure may cause adverse health effects has been discussed controversially in recent years. Here we investigate the effect of prenatal paraben exposure on childhood overweight by combining epidemiological data from a mother-child cohort with experimental approaches. Mothers reporting the use of paraben-containing cosmetic products have elevated urinary paraben concentrations. For butyl paraben (BuP) a positive association is observed to overweight within the first eight years of life with a stronger trend in girls. Consistently, maternal BuP exposure of mice induces a higher food intake and weight gain in female offspring. The effect is accompanied by an epigenetic modification in the neuronal Pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) enhancer 1 leading to a reduced hypothalamic POMC expression. Here we report that maternal paraben exposure may contribute to childhood overweight development by altered POMC-mediated neuronal appetite regulation.
More Related Videos
05:55Stable Isotope In-Vivo Labeling for Mass-Spectrometry Identification of Paternal Metabolites Transferred from Sperm to Oocyte During Fertilization
Published on: June 17, 2025
07:08Long-term Behavioral and Reproductive Consequences of Embryonic Exposure to Low-dose Toxicants
Published on: March 6, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Obesity
Pathophysiology of Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is characterized by autoimmune-mediated destruction of pancreatic β cells, with environmental factors potentially triggering this process in genetically susceptible individuals. Despite many not having a family history, certain genes increase susceptibility,...
Teratogenicity
Bulimia Nervosa
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria and Symptoms
To diagnose ADHD, symptoms must manifest before age 12 and be evident across multiple settings....
Inborn Errors of Metabolism