Tag Archive for: di-2-ethylhexyl-phthalate

Plastic leaching illustration

Plasticizer interaction with the heart

Calling an ambulance during an emergency, emailing a journal article before a 5 p.m. deadline and maintaining conditions during the fifth week of a 6-week lab study, without altering the light or temperature, requires electricity and translates into time, money and lives saved. During critical moments, we appreciate the tiny particles and ions in electric currents that power our phones, computers or laboratory equipment. We seldom think about the speed of these connections or potential disruptors when conditions are stable. The same applies to the electric currents, or electrophysiology, of our heart.

Arrhythmias affect millions of Americans but can be controlled with routine screenings and preventive care. In an intensive care setting, helping a patient maintain a steady heart rate, especially if they are at risk for cardiac complications, may support a faster recovery, shorter hospital stay, reduced health care costs and improved health outcomes, such as avoiding complications from heart failure or stroke.

A preclinical study, entitled “Plasticizer Interaction With the Heart,” appears in the July issue of Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology and examines the role plastic exposure, akin to exposure in a medical setting, has on heart rhythm disruptions and arrhythmias.

changes in heart rhythm due to plastics

New preclinical research finds acute exposure to MEHP, a common plasticizer used in medical equipment, increases risk for alternans and arrhythmias, disruptions in heart rhythm. The images above show changes in heart rhythm, measured by slowed epicardial conduction velocity, enhanced action potential prolongation and impaired sinus node activity.

The research team, led by researchers at Children’s National Health System, discovered increased risks for irregular heart rhythms after exposing intact, in vitro heart models to 30 minutes of mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP), a metabolite from Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP). DEHP is a chemical commonly used to make plastics pliable in FDA-approved medical devices. This phthalate accounts for 40% of the weight of blood storage bags and up to 80% of the weight of tubes used in an intensive care setting, such as for assisted feeding or breathing, and for catheters used in diagnostics or to conduct minimally invasive cardiac procedures.

The team chose to study the heart’s reaction to 60 µM of MEHP, a level comparable to stored blood levels of MEHP observed in pediatric patients and in neonatal exchange transfusion procedures. They found 30-minute exposure to MEHP slowed atrioventricular conduction and increased the atrioventricular node effective refractory period. MEHP prolonged action potential duration time, enhanced action potential triangulation, increased the ventricular effective refractory period and slowed epicardial conduction velocity, which may be due to the inhibition of Nav 1.5, or sodium current.

“We chose to study the impact of MEHP exposure on cardiac electrophysiology at concentrations that are observed in an intensive care setting, since plastic medical products are known to leach these chemicals into a patient’s bloodstream,” says Nikki Gillum Posnack, Ph.D., a principal investigator with the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. “In critical conditions, a patient may have a blood transfusion, require extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, undergo cardiopulmonary bypass or require dialysis or intravenous fluid administration. All of these scenarios can lead to plastic chemical exposure. Our research team wants to investigate how these plastic chemicals can impact cardiac health.”

In this review, Dr. Posnack’s team mentions one reason for the observed changes in the preclinical heart models may be due to the structure of phthalates, which resemble hormones and can interfere with a variety of biological processes. Due to their low molecular weight, these chemicals can interact directly with ion channels, nuclear receptors and other cellular targets.

Existing epidemiological research shows associations between exposure to phthalates and adverse health outcomes, including metabolic disturbances, reproductive disorders, inflammatory conditions, neurological disorders and cardiovascular disease. This is the first study to examine the link between cardiac electrophysiology in intact hearts and exposure to MEHP, comparable to levels observed in an ICU.

Dr. Posnack’s team previously found DEHP reduced cellular electrical coupling in cardiomyocyte cell models, which slowed conduction velocity and produced an arrhythmogenic phenotype. A microarray analysis found heart cells treated with DEHP led to mRNA changes in genes responsible for contracting and calcium handling. Another preclinical study showed DEHP altered nervous system regulation of the cardiovascular system. Future studies to expand on this research may include the use of larger preclinical models or human assessments. For the latter, stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes can be used to compare the safety profile of plastic chemicals with potential alternatives.

An accompanying editorial, entitled “Shocking Aspects of Nonconductive Plastics,” authored by cardiology researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, puts this novel research into perspective. Like Dr. Posnack, the team notes that while the clinical impact plasticizers have on heart health still needs to be determined, the work contributes to compelling data among multiple researchers and shows DEHP and MEHP are not inert substances.

“Toxic plasticizers in children’s toys and baby products hit public headlines 20 years ago, but exposure to these compounds is up to 25x higher in patients undergoing complex medical procedures,” write the University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers. “We readily (and unknowingly) administer these compounds, and at times in high quantity, to some of our most vulnerable patients. This work highlights the need for further investigation into short and long-term plasticizer exposure on cardiac electrophysiology.”

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), released a public health statement about DEHP in 2002, noting more research in humans is needed to issue formal warnings against this phthalate.

ATSDR states there is no conclusive evidence about the adverse health effects of children exposed to DEHP in a medical setting, such as procedures that require the use of flexible tubing to administer intravenous fluids or medication. However, the CDC statement includes limits of DEHP exposure, based on preclinical models, used to guide upper DEHP limits in consumer products, including food packaging, drinking water, and air quality in the workplace.

“It’s important to note that this was a preliminary study performed on an ex vivo model that is largely resilient to arrhythmias”, says Rafael Jaimes III, Ph.D., the first author of the study and a senior scientist at Children’s National. “Due to the nature of the design, it was somewhat alarming that we found such significant effects. I predict that electrophysiological disturbances will be more pronounced in models that more closely resemble humans. These types of models should absolutely be studied.”

“And, importantly, our results may incentivize the development and use of new products that are manufactured without phthalates,” Dr. Posnack adds.

These questions are powering Dr. Posnack and her team through a decade-long, multi-institution research investigation to understand how plastic chemicals and medical device biomaterials can impact cardiac health.

Additional study authors for this paper include Damon McCullough, B.S., Bryan Siegel, M.D., Luther Swift, Ph.D., Daniel McInerney, B.S., and James Hiebert, B.S., with the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation and Children’s National Heart Institute, part of Children’s National Health System in Washington, D.C.; Erick A. Perez-Alday, Ph.D., and Larisa G Tereshchenko, M.D., Ph.D., with the Knight Cardiovascular Institute at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Ore.; Javier Saiz, Ph.D., and Beatriz Trenor, Ph.D., with Ci2B-Universitat Politecnica de Valencia in Spain and Jiansong Sheng, Ph.D., from CiPA Lab, LLC, in Rockville, Md.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R00ES023477 and R01HL139472), Children’s Research Institute and Children’s National Heart Institute. NVIDIA corporation provided graphics processing, with partial support by the Direccion General de Politica Cientifica de la Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEU2016/088).

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2017: A banner year for innovation at Children’s National

banner year

In 2017, clinicians and research faculty working at Children’s National Health System published more than 850 research articles about a wide array of topics. A multidisciplinary Children’s Research Institute review group selected the top 10 articles for the calendar year considering, among other factors, work published in high-impact academic journals.

“This year’s honorees showcase how our multidisciplinary institutes serve as vehicles to bring together Children’s specialists in cross-cutting research and clinical collaborations,” says Mark L. Batshaw, M.D., Physician-in-Chief and Chief Academic Officer at Children’s National. “We’re honored that the National Institutes of Health and other funders have provided millions in awards that help to ensure that these important research projects continue.”

The published papers explain research that includes using imaging to describe the topography of the developing brains of infants with congenital heart disease, how high levels of iron may contribute to neural tube defects and using an incisionless surgery method to successfully treat osteoid osteoma. The top 10 Children’s papers:

Read the complete list.

Dr. Batshaw’s announcement comes on the eve of Research and Education Week 2018 at Children’s National, a weeklong event that begins April 16, 2018. This year’s theme, “Diversity powers innovation,” underscores the cross-cutting nature of Children’s research that aims to transform pediatric care.

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NIH funding to improve devices and safeguard cardiovascular health

Nearly 15 million blood transfusions are performed each year in the U.S., and pediatric patients alone receive roughly 425,000 transfused units. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals, such as bisphenol A and di-2-ethylhexyl-phthalate (DEHP), can leach from some plastic devices used in such transfusions. However, it remains unclear how many complications following a transfusion can be attributed to the interplay between local and systemic reactions to these chemical contaminants.

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Top: Live, excised heart that is being perfused with a crystalloid buffer via the aorta. The heart is stained with a voltage-sensitive fluorescent dye, which is excited by an LED light source. Bottom, right: Cardiac action potentials are optically mapped across the epicardial surface in real-time by monitoring changes in the fluorescence signal that are proportional to changes in transmembrane voltage. Bottom, left: An activation map (middle) depicts the speed of electrical conduction across the heart surface. Credit: Rafael Jaimes, Ph.D.; Luther Swift, Ph.D.; Manelle Ramadan, B.S.; Bryan Siegel, M.D.; James Hiebert, B.S., all of Children’s National Health System; and Daniel McInerney, student at The George Washington University.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute within the National Institutes of Health has awarded a $3.4 million, five-year grant to Nikki Gillum Posnack, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Children’s National Heart Institute within the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation (SZI) at Children’s National Health System, to answer that question and to provide insights that could accelerate development of safer biomaterials.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, patients who are undergoing IV therapy, blood transfusion, cardiopulmonary bypass or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or who receive nutrition through feeding support tubes have the potential to be exposed to DEHP.

Posnack led a recent study that found that an experimental model exposed to DEHP experienced altered autonomic regulation, heart rate variability and cardiovascular reactivity and reported the findings Nov. 6, 2017, in the American Journal of Physiology. The pre-clinical model study is the first to show such an association between phthalate chemicals used in everyday medical devices like IV tubing and cardiovascular health.

In the follow-on research, Posnack and colleagues will:

  • Use in vivo and whole heart models to define the extent to which biomaterial leaching and chemical exposure alters cardiovascular and autonomic function in experimental models
  • Determine whether biocompatibility and incidental chemical exposure are linked to cardiovascular and autonomic abnormalities experienced by pediatric patients post transfusion
  • Compare and contrast alternative biomaterials, chemicals and manufacturing techniques to identify safer transfusion device options.

“Ultimately, we hope to strengthen the evidence base used to inform decisions by the scientific, medical and regulatory communities about whether chemical additives that have endocrine-disrupting properties should be used to manufacture medical devices,” Posnack says. “Our findings also will highlight incentives that could accelerate development of alternative biomaterials, additives and fabrication techniques to improve safety for patients undergoing transfusion.”

Nikki Gillum Posnack

Experimental model study links phthalates and cardiovascular health

Nikki Gillum Posnack

“Because phthalate chemicals are known to migrate out of plastic products, our study highlights the importance of adopting safer materials, chemical additives and/or surface coatings for use in medical devices to reduce the risk of inadvertent exposure,” explains study senior author Nikki Gillum Posnack, Ph.D.

An experimental model exposed to di-2-ethylhexyl-phthalate (DEHP), a chemical that can leach from plastic-based medical devices, experienced altered autonomic regulation, heart rate variability and cardiovascular reactivity, according to a study published online Nov. 6, 2017 by the American Journal of Physiology. The pre-clinical model study is the first to show such an association between phthalate chemicals used in everyday medical devices like IV tubing and cardiovascular health.

“Plastics have revolutionized medical devices, transformed how we treat blood-based diseases and helped to make innovative cardiology procedures possible,” says Nikki Gillum Posnack, Ph.D., study senior author and assistant professor at the Children’s National Heart Institute within the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation (SZI) at Children’s National Health System. “Because phthalate chemicals are known to migrate out of plastic products, our study highlights the importance of adopting safer materials, chemical additives and/or surface coatings for use in medical devices to reduce the risk of inadvertent exposure.”

According to the Food and Drug Administration, patients who are undergoing IV therapy, blood transfusion, cardiopulmonary bypass or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or who receive nutrition through feeding support tubes have the potential to be exposed to DEHP.

Patients undergoing extensive interventions to save their lives may be exposed to multiple plastic-based devices that supply oxygen and nutrition or that pump newly oxygenated blood to oxygen-starved organs.

“These interventions keep very fragile kids alive. What’s most important is getting patients the care they need when they need it,” Posnack says. “In the biomaterials field, our ultimate goal is to reduce inadvertent risks to patients that can result from contact with plastic products by identifying replacement materials or safer coatings to lower overall risk.”

In order to assess the safety of phthalate chemicals used in such medical devices, the Children’s-led research team implanted adult experimental models with radiofrequency transmitters that monitored their heart rate variability, blood pressure and autonomic regulation. Then, they exposed the experimental models to DEHP, a softener used in making the plastic polymer, polyvinyl chloride, flexible.

DEHP-treated pre-clinical models had decreased heart rate variability with lower-than-normal variation in the intervals between heart beats. The experimental models also showed an exaggerated mean arterial pressure response to ganglionic blockade. And in response to a stressor, the experimental models in the treatment group displayed enhanced cardiovascular reactivity as well as prolonged blood pressure recovery, according to the study team.

“The autonomic nervous system is a part of the nervous system that automatically regulates such essential functions as blood pressure and breathing rate without any conscious effort by the individual,” Posnack adds. “Because alterations in the autonomic balance provide an early warning sign of trouble – before symptoms of hypertension or atherosclerosis manifest – our findings underscore the importance of additional studies to explore the potential impact of phthalate chemicals on organ function.”

Billie Lou Short, M.D., chief of Children’s Division of Neonatology, called the paper an “important study” that builds on a foundation laid in the late 199os by Children’s researchers who were the first to show that plasticizers migrated from tubing in the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) circuit. Children’s researchers also led a study published in 2004 that evaluated the effect of plasticizers on the human reproductive system. A small number of adolescents who had undergone ECMO as newborns did not experience the complications that had been seen in in experimental models, Dr. Short says.

Posnack’s study co-authors include Rafael Jaimes III, Ph.D., SZI staff scientist; Meredith Sherman, SZI research technician; and Adam Swiercz, Narine Muselimyan and Paul J. Marvar, all of The George Washington University.