Metabolic effects of chronic exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of N-(1,3-Dimethylbutyl)-N′-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine (6PPD) in mice during diet-induced obesity progression

N-(1,3-Dimethylbutyl)-N′-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine (6PPD) has been detected in edible fish and drinking water, as well as in human serum, raises concerns about the potential health risks. However, there is limited data on the health effects of 6PPD at environmentally relevant doses in mammals. In this study, male C57BL/6J mice were orally exposed to an environmentally relevant dosage of 6PPD (10 ng/kg/day) for fourteen weeks while maintaining on a high-fat, high-fructose (HFHF) diet. This exposure had minimal effects on adiposity, energy expenditure, insulin tolerance, or liver pathology. However, it subtly impacted the digestive system, as evidenced by increased fecal energy excretion and elevated expression of lipid synthesis genes in the liver. Additionally, orally ingested 6PPD were detected in various tissues, predominantly in adipose tissue. However, up to 1 μM, 6PPD showed negligible effects on white adipocyte differentiation or adipokine production in three in vitro cell models. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that oral exposure to 6PPD at current environmentally relevant levels results in limited metabolic disruption in HFHF-induced obese mice. These results suggested that, under conditions of an energy-dense dietary habit, oral exposure of 6PPD at current environmental dosages plays a minor role in disrupting metabolic health in mammals.