Effects of the Fungicide Prothioconazole on Lipid Metabolism in Mice: Whitening Alterations of Brown Adipose Tissue

With considerable concerns about the associations between metabolic disorders and agricultural biocides, there are scattered data suggesting that the triazole fungicide prothioconazole (PTC) at lower doses than the no observed adverse effect level of 5000 μg/kg/d possibly has the potential to disrupt glycolipid metabolism in mammals. Here, we investigated the effects of 50, 500, and 5000 μg/kg/d of PTC on glycolipid metabolism in mice following 8 weeks of administration via drinking water, with specific attention on brown adipose tissue (BAT) and white adipose tissue (WAT) in addition to the liver. We found that along with the increased serum triglyceride level in the 5000 μg/kg/d group, small fatty vacuoles occurred in livers in all treatment groups, indicating lipid accumulation. No change in WAT was observed, but PTC caused BAT whitening, characterized by adipocyte hypertrophy, more unilocular adipocytes with enlarged lipid droplets, reduced UCP1 levels, and down-regulated