Perinatal triphenyl phosphate exposure accelerates type 2 diabetes onset and increases adipose accumulation in UCD-type 2 diabetes mellitus rats

• Perinatal TPhP exposure increased body and fat mass in male and female rats.
• Perinatal TPhP exposure increased circulating leptin in male rats.
• Perinatal TPhP exposure increased cumulative energy intake in female rats.
• Independent of body mass, perinatal TPhP exposure accelerated T2DM onset in male rats.
• Perinatal TPhP exposure increased plasma non-esterified- fasting fatty acids, including total saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, in male rats.

Triphenyl phosphate (TPhP) is a flame retardant additive frequently found in consumer products and household dust. We administered 170 μg of TPhP in maternal food from gestational day 8.5 to weaning and evaluated metabolic phenotypes of 3.5 month old male and female rats, and weight-matched males up to 6 months, to assess the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), respectively. Perinatal TPhP exposure increased body and fat mass in 3.5 month old male and female rats, while leptin and cumulative energy intake were elevated in males and females, respectively. Independent of body mass, perinatal TPhP exposure accelerated T2DM onset in males and increased plasma non-esterified- fasting fatty acids. These observations suggest that perinatal exposure to TPhP exacerbates the development of obesity in male and female UCDavis-T2DM rats and accelerates T2DM onset in male UCD-T2DM rats.