Dioxins and related compounds (DRCs) and perfluorinated compounds were measured in the livers of pigs (Sus scrofa) collected from an open waste dumping site in South India. Hepatic concentrations of DRCs and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS; up to 200 ng/g wet wt) were significantly higher in male and female pigs, respectively, collected from the dumping site than in those from a reference site. Results suggest that dumping sites are a source of DRCs and PFOS. Hepatic concentrations of DRCs in piglets were higher than in mothers, especially for the congeners with molecular weights in the range of 360 to 400, implying congener-specific maternal transfer of DRCs in swine. Concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and some non-ortho dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the liver of pigs were higher than those in the adipose fat and muscle of the same specimens. In addition, the liver-to-adipose concentration ratios for each congener had a significant positive correlation with the levels of hepatic cytochrome P450 (CYP)1A-like protein, suggesting congener-specific and CYP1A-dependent hepatic sequestration of DRCs in the swine. Total hepatic 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin toxic equivalents (TEQs; 8.9-350 pg/g fat wt) had a significant positive correlation with CYP1A-like protein expression (r=0.56, p=0.012), suggesting the induction of CYP1A by DRCs. However, the total TEQs had a significant negative correlation with CYP4A-like protein (r=-0.49, p=0.029), suggesting repression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPARalpha)-mediated signaling pathway by DRCs. Decreases in plasma total thyroxine (T4), free T4, and immunoglobulin (Ig) G were also found in pigs from the dumping site compared with those from the reference site. This study provides insight into the toxicological impacts of DRCs and perfluorinated compounds in wild animals from open waste dumping sites.
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