ibs.GRANADA participates in a European project to reduce the impact of endocrine disruptors during pregnancy and childhood
These chemicals can be found in everyday products such as personal care and cosmetics, foods, beverages or cleaning products.
The ibs.GRANADA participates, under the coordination of the Eurecat technology center, in the European project HYPIEND, which studies the impact of endocrine disruptors on the hormonal system during pregnancy, the first 18 months of the baby and during the prepubertal stage. The objective is to generate knowledge that enables the design of strategies to minimize exposure to these chemical substances and reduce their adverse effects on health.
Carmen Freire, researcher of the group A-15 of Basic and Clinical Oncology of ibs.GRANADA is IP in this international initiative. Freire belongs to the research group of Nicolás Olea, researcher responsible for ibs.GRANADA and professor at the UGR and is a researcher at the Department of Legal Medicine, Toxicology and Physical Anthropology of the UGR.
Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that can interfere with the functioning of the hormonal system, especially during important stages of life such as pregnancy and childhood. Therefore, the project will specifically analyze its effects on the axis where the central nervous system and the endocrine system converge and which regulates hormones such as growth or oxytocin, which coordinate functions of the organism such as somatic growth, lactation or adaptation to stress, among others.
Endocrine disruptors can be found in everyday products such as personal care and cosmetics, food, beverages or cleaning products, which is why HYPIEND will examine the impact of these chemicals from a holistic approach, as detailed by the project coordination.
The HYPIEND project will use advanced computational toxicology methods to define and analyze exposure patterns to combinations of these substances and evaluate their effects on the neuroendocrine system, studying mechanisms of action and searching for new non-invasive biomarkers of alteration of the connection between the central nervous system. and the endocrine system.
In addition, within the framework of the project, two clinical studies will be carried out at European level with pregnant women and their children and with children during the prepubertal stage to minimize exposure to these substances and evaluate the applicability of the identified biomarkers.
Clinical studies in Europe with sensitive populations
The first clinical study will evaluate the effectiveness of a behavioral intervention and the use of mobile applications to reduce exposure levels of pregnant and lactating women, as well as their children up to 18 months of age, and will be carried out in Spain, Belgium and Poland .
The second study will be carried out in schools in Spain and Belgium with 6 and 7 year old children, in addition to their guardians, over three school years to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention in reducing levels of exposure to endocrine disruptors in children and increase the knowledge of their parents about these chemical substances.
The project has a budget of seven million euros and is financed by the Horizon Europe Program of the European Union. A total of 14 partners from eight European countries form the HYPIEND consortium: the Eurecat technology center, project coordinator; the Germans Trias i Pujol Health Sciences Research Institute (IGTP-CERCA), the University of Granada, ProtoQSAR and HULAFE – La Fe Health Research Institute, from Spain; Stichting Radboud University (SRU), the Netherlands; Sciensano, the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven) and the University of Liege (ULIEGE), Belgium; Kungliga Tekniska Hoegskolan (KTH), from Sweden; the Ksztalcenia Podyplomowego Medicine Center, Poland; and Enco SRL, from Italy. In addition, it also has the participation of King's College London, from the United Kingdom, and the University of Geneva, from Switzerland.
