Glyphosate Residues Higher in People with Chronic Liver Disease

THIRD WORLD NETWORK BIOSAFETY INFORMATION SERVICE

Dear Friends and Colleagues

Glyphosate Residues Higher in People with Chronic Liver Disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is currently the most common chronic liver disease in developed countries. Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a type of NAFLD. Patients with NASH are considered to be at a high risk of developing even more serious diseases, such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. Among potential environmental contributors to the pathophysiology of NAFLD are exposure to pesticides and herbicides. (Item 1)

Glyphosate, the primary weed-killing ingredient in Roundup, is sprayed on genetically modiﬁed (GM) crops and on many non-GM grain crops and is found in these crops at harvest (Item 2). For individuals not working in the agricultural or horticultural industries, the primary route of glyphosate exposure is through ingestion of Roundup-treated GM foods and/or non-GM crops such as wheat and oats.

In a study involving 93 people, researchers examined glyphosate excretion in the urine samples of two patient groups — those with a diagnosis of NASH and those without. The results were significant: Regardless of age, race, body mass index (BMI), ethnicity or diabetes status, glyphosate residue was significantly higher in patients with NASH than it was in patients with a healthier liver.

The study advances previous animal feeding research that showed a causative link between exposure to Roundup herbicide and NAFLD and NASH in rats (Item 3).

The findings, coupled with prior animal studies, suggest a link between the use of commercial glyphosate in our food supply, which has increased significantly over the past 25 years, particualrly with the increased acrage of GM herbicde-tolerant crops, and the prevalence of NAFLD in the United States, which too has been on the rise for two decades. The study suggests that people should minimise their exposure to glyphosate and other pesticides by seeking out organically grown food.

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Item 1

GLYPHOSATE EXCRETION IS ASSOCIATED WITH STEATOHEPATITIS AND ADVANCED LIVER FIBROSIS IN PATIENTS WITH FATTY LIVER DISEASE

Paul J Mills, Cyrielle Caussy, and Rohit Loomba

Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Science Direct

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2019.03.045

Available online 4 April 2019. Article in press.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1542356519303611

Introduction

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is currently the most common chronic liver disease in developed countries. Patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are considered to be at a higher risk of ﬁbrosis progression and development to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Among potential environmental contributors to the pathophysiology of NAFLD are exposure to pesticides and herbicides. Glyphosate, the primary weed-killing ingredient in Roundup (Monsanto, St Louis, MO), is sprayed on genetically modiﬁed crops and on many non–genetically modiﬁed grain crops and is found in these crops at harvest. Rodents chronically fed with a low dosage of glyphosate exhibit signs of hepatotoxicity, liver congestion, necrosis, and DNA damage of the liver cells. This study examined excretion levels of glyphosate and its primary metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in a well-characterized and prospectively recruited cohort of patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD.

Discussion

We report that glyphosate excretion is signiﬁcantly higher in patients with NASH compared with patents without NASH. In addition, we also report a signiﬁcant dose-dependent increase of glyphosate exposure with increase in ﬁbrosis stages. For individuals not working in the agricultural or horticultural industries, the primary route of glyphosate exposure is through ingestion of Roundup-treated genetically modiﬁed foods and/or non–genetically modiﬁed crops such as wheat and oats. Glyphosate excretion was elevated in women, which presumably reﬂected an increased exposure to glyphosate. Although there are strengths to this study, including the use of a well-characterized cohort using liver biopsy for the diagnosis of NASH and stage of liver ﬁbrosis, we acknowledge limitations, including no information on dietary intake or occupation and no patients without NAFLD. We did not ﬁnd an association between glyphosate excretion and body mass index, suggesting that glyphosate intake was independent of total caloric intake. As far as potential mechanisms of glyphosate on the liver, Mesnage et al. showed that rats fed glyphosate have disrupted liver mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, leading to proteome disturbances reﬂecting peroxisomal proliferation, steatosis, and necrosis, a proﬁle consistent with NAFLD and its progression to NASH. Other studies show that glyphosate inhibits fatty acid oxidation and increases fat and cholesteryl ester levels in mice livers, leading to increased lipid mass per gram of liver.

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Item 2

EXPOSURE TO GLYPHOSATE, THE PRIMARY INGREDIENT IN THE POPULAR WEED KILLER ROUNDUP, CORRELATES TO MORE SEVERE CASES OF NONALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE

Debra Kamin

UC San Diego Health

14 May 2019

https://health.ucsd.edu/news/releases/Pages/2019-05-14-herbicide-linked-to-human-liver-disease.aspx

Glyphosate, the primary ingredient in Monsanto’s popular weed killer Roundup, has been linked to liver disease in animal models. In a new study, the first of its kind, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine report an association between the herbicide and negative effects upon the human liver.

In a study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology , a team led by Paul J. Mills, PhD, professor and chief in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at UC San Diego School of Medicine, examined glyphosate excretion in the urine samples of two patient groups — those with a diagnosis of NASH (nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a type of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD), and those without. The results, they found, were significant: Regardless of age, race, body mass index (BMI), ethnicity or diabetes status, glyphosate residue was significantly higher in patients with NASH than it was in patients with a healthier liver.

The findings, coupled with prior animal studies, said Mills, suggest a link between the use of commercial glyphosate in our food supply, which has increased significantly over the past 25 years, and the prevalence of NAFLD in the United States, which too has been on the rise for two decades.

“There have been a handful of studies, all of which we cited in our paper, where animals either were or weren’t fed Roundup or glyphosate directly, and they all point to the same thing: the development of liver pathology,” said Mills. “So I naturally thought: ‘Well, could there be an association with this same herbicide and liver disease in the U.S.?’”

The study examined urine samples of 93 patients. Forty-one percent were male; 42 percent were white or Caucasian; 35 percent were Hispanic or Latino. Average BMI was 31.8. Patients were originally recruited as part of a larger study at the UC San Diego NAFLD Research Center conducted between 2012 and 2018. Liver biopsies were used to determine the presence or absence of NAFLD while classifying the subjects by cohort.

Mills plans to next put a group of patients on an all-organic diet and track them over the course of several months, examining how a herbicide-free diet might affect biomarkers of liver disease.

Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the United States; it was developed and patented by agrochemical giant Monsanto in the 1970s and its sales represent approximately 50 percent of the company’s annual revenue.

“The increasing levels [of glyphosate] in people’s urine very much correlates to the consumption of Roundup treated crops into our diet,” said Mills. But while researchers say this study suggests an observational link between the herbicide exposure and liver disease in human subjects, Mills said much work remains to be done.

“There are so many synthetic chemicals we are regularly exposed to,” he said. “We measured just one.”

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Item 3

NEW SURVEY IN HUMANS SHOWS LINK BETWEEN ADVANCED LIVER DISEASE AND GLYPHOSATE

GM Watch

23 April 2019

https://www.gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18897

A new study shows that patients with an advanced form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and have higher glyphosate residue levels in their urine, compared with patients with the less serious form of NAFLD.

Patients with NASH are considered to be at a high risk of developing even more serious diseases, such as cirrhosis and liver cancer.

The study was led by Prof Paul Mills of the Dept of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego, with the involvement of the NAFLD Research Center in La Jolla, California. The sample size was 97 patients.

The new study advances previous research led by Dr Michael Antoniou at King’s College London. Dr Antoniou’s team found that rats fed the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup at very low levels within regulatory safety limits developed NAFLD and NASH over a long-term period of two years.

Dr Antoniou’s study, being a controlled animal feeding trial, shows a causative link between exposure to Roundup herbicide and NAFLD and NASH.

Prof Mills’ study does not prove that glyphosate actually causes liver disease. It is an “after the fact” study in humans with liver disease, in which exposure to glyphosate herbicide was not controlled but glyphosate excretion was measured after the subjects became ill. However, it does show a correlation between high glyphosate levels in human urine and NASH.

The study suggests that people should minimise their exposure to glyphosate herbicide and other pesticides by seeking out organically grown food.

Commenting on the new study, Dr Antoniou said, “Our laboratory animal studies identified Roundup exposure as a previously unsuspected risk factor for developing NAFLD and NASH. The survey conducted by Prof Mills takes takes our findings a step forward by demonstrating a correlation between glyphosate exposure and the severity of liver disease in humans.”

Dr Antoniou continued, “The question that remains unanswered is which component(s) of commercial glyphosate-based herbicides constitute the NAFLD-NASH risk factor. Is it the glyphosate alone, or the toxic adjuvants present in commercial formulations, or a combination of the two? Further studies are needed to resolve this crucial issue.”

Exactly how glyphosate excretion levels in urine correlate with the amounts actually present in the vital organs of the body is not known. The pesticide industry claims that high urine levels are a positive thing because the body is successfully excreting the chemical.

However, this notion is contradicted by research led by Dr Monika Kruger in Germany. Dr Kruger found that glyphosate levels in a range of organs in dairy cows was very similar to that in urine. This suggests that glyphosate can accumulate in the body. In addition, chronically ill people had higher glyphosate residue levels in their urine than healthy humans, suggesting that high glyphosate excretion levels are not a healthy sign.

In addition, a separate study in pregnant women living in the US showed that glyphosate levels in their urine correlated with shortened pregnancy lengths.

Prof Mills’s study adds weight to the probability that high glyphosate levels in urine are a signal of ill health, at least with relation to NAFLD and especially NASH.