Fatty acid profiles reveal toxic responses in adipose tissue of C57BL/6J mice exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin

• Published in: Analytical methods 2014-01, Vol.6 (20), p.8207-8211
• Main Authors: Hu, Chuanqin, Lin, Shuhai, Cai, Zongwei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adipose tissues; Exposure; Fatty acids; Metabolites; Mice; Multivariate statistical analysis; Toxic; Toxicology
• ISSN: 1759-9660; 1759-9679
• DOI: 10.1039/C4AY01479K

Dioxin exposure tends to accumulate in adipose tissue and alters metabolism in mammals. In this study, gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in conjunction with multivariate statistical analysis was applied to profile small molecular metabolites in adipose tissue of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-high affinity wild-type C57BL/6J mice exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo- p -dioxin (TCDD). A partial least squares discriminant analysis model was also constructed to map the discrimination between TCDD dosages and the control group. As a result, a total of 16 differential metabolites were identified in the high-dose TCDD group compared to the control group, and 12 free fatty acids (FFAs) were highlighted among them. Both saturated and unsaturated FFA levels were significantly elevated in adipose tissues of TCDD-exposed mice. This promising tool for global characterization highlights FFAs which could be served as indicators for understanding the toxic responses to TCDD exposure in a dose-dependent manner. The data indicated that the use of GC-MS coupled with multivariate statistical analysis could provide new insight for fatty acid biosynthesis on AhR activation with TCDD exposure in wild-type mice.