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Assessing the toxicological impact of DEHP exposure on IVDD through network toxicology, machine learning and multi-dimensional bioinformatics analysis
Summary
DEHP, a chemical used to make plastics flexible (found in everyday items like food packaging and medical tubing), may worsen spinal disc degeneration—a major cause of low back pain—by boosting a protein called LGALS3 that damages the disc's structural tissue. Using computer modeling, researchers found DEHP binds fairly strongly to this protein, suggesting plastic chemical exposure could be an overlooked risk factor for back problems. This is early-stage lab and computational research, not a study in people, but it adds to growing concerns about how plastic-related chemicals may affect health in ways beyond what we already kn
Background: Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is the leading cause of low back pain. Despite microplastic accumulation in human discs, the molecular role of the plasticiser DEHP in IVDD remains systematically underexplored. Methods: DEHP and IVDD targets were retrieved from databases including ChEMBL, GeneCards, and OMIM. Following enrichment analysis, common targets were intersected with GSE56081 differentially expressed genes. LASSO regression was employed for feature selection. Molecular docking and 100-ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulations validated the binding affinity and stability of ligand-target complexes. Results: We identified 246 common targets enriched in PI3K-Akt and ECM metabolic pathways. Three core targets—COL1A2, LGALS3, and PLOD1—were identified via LASSO and significantly upregulated in IVDD. Docking revealed DEHP’s preferential binding to LGALS3 (-4.3 kcal/mol). MD simulations confirmed the LGALS3-DEHP complex's stability through RMSD, radius of gyration, and SASA metrics. Conclusions: DEHP is a potential environmental risk factor for IVDD. It likely exacerbates degeneration by upregulating LGALS3, triggering inflammation, and disrupting ECM homeostasis. This study provides a novel framework for assessing spinal health risks from plasticisers.