{"id":9384,"date":"2025-10-29T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/?p=9384"},"modified":"2025-12-04T09:44:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T17:44:27","slug":"usc-superfund-researchers-identify-forever-chemical-pfhpa-as-risk-factor-for-severe-liver-disease-in-adolescents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/usc-superfund-researchers-identify-forever-chemical-pfhpa-as-risk-factor-for-severe-liver-disease-in-adolescents\/","title":{"rendered":"USC Superfund Researchers Identify \u201cForever Chemical\u201d PFHpA as Risk Factor for Severe Liver Disease in Adolescents"},"content":{"rendered":"\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"text-container\">\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--eyebrow\">\n\n    \n  <span>Press Release<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>USC Superfund Researchers Identify \u201cForever Chemical\u201d PFHpA as Risk Factor for Severe Liver Disease in Adolescents<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n    \n          <div class=\"meta\">\n                  <span class=\"author\">Zara Abrams<\/span>\n        \n                  <span class=\"date\">October 29, 2025<\/span>\n              <\/div>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--embed\">\n\n    \n  <div class=\"heateor_sss_sharing_container heateor_sss_horizontal_sharing\" data-heateor-ss-offset=\"0\" data-heateor-sss-href='https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/usc-superfund-researchers-identify-forever-chemical-pfhpa-as-risk-factor-for-severe-liver-disease-in-adolescents\/'><div class=\"heateor_sss_sharing_ul\"><a aria-label=\"Facebook\" class=\"heateor_sss_facebook\" 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data-srcset=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2025\/10\/iStock-1212682537-1920x1080.jpg 1920w,https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2025\/10\/iStock-1212682537-1280x720.jpg 1280w,https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2025\/10\/iStock-1212682537-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n        alt=\"3D Illustration Concept of Human Internal Digestive Organ Liver Anatomy\"\n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n          <figcaption><p>Photo\/iStock<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n    <\/figure>\n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text white\"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n        \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, working within the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/sharpcenter.usc.edu\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Southern California Superfund Research and Training Program for PFAS Assessment, Remediation and Prevention (ShARP) Center<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, have uncovered compelling evidence that exposure to perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), a lesser-known member of the PFAS family of \u201cforever chemicals, is linked to a significantly higher risk and severity of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in adolescents with obesity. The study, published in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s43856-025-01168-z\">Communications Medicine<\/a> (Nature Portfolio), integrates clinical data from adolescents undergoing bariatric surgery with advanced 3D liver models to reveal the biological mechanisms by which PFHpA may drive disease progression.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>PFHpA and liver disease<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"float: right;width: 240px;height: 427px;margin-left: 15px;margin-bottom: 10px\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rLnOVxtvhZ0\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>The researchers examined blood samples from 137 adolescents enrolled in\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.niddk.nih.gov\/about-niddk\/research-areas\/obesity\/bariatric-surgery-teens-severe-obesity-study-teen-labs\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teen Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the largest U.S. study of pediatric bariatric surgery. They found that adolescents with twice the amount of PFHpA in their blood faced an 80% greater likelihood of being diagnosed with MASLD compared to their peers with lower levels. Teens with higher exposures also showed more advanced liver injury, including inflammation and fibrosis\u2014early signs of disease progression that can eventually lead to cirrhosis, liver failure, or even liver cancer. To strengthen these findings, the team tested PFAS on laboratory-grown liver spheroids using doses comparable to typical human exposure, showing that PFHpA disrupts critical biological pathways, including inflammation, oxidative stress and lipid metabolism. This dual approach allowed the researchers to connect exposure to mechanism, producing a distinctive molecular signature of PFHpA-related liver damage.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Rising rates of MASLD and PFAS exposures<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">MASLD, once referred to as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, is one of the most common liver disorders in young people, affecting an estimated five to 10% of U.S. children and adolescents and more than 30% of those with obesity. It is also a condition on the rise, placing many young people at risk of severe long-term health consequences, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The fact that exposure to PFHpA can worsen this trajectory is particularly concerning given how widespread these chemicals are. PFAS are used in products ranging from food packaging and waterproof clothing to cosmetics and nonstick cookware, and they contaminate drinking water supplies across the country. Nearly half of all U.S. water systems are now believed to contain detectable PFAS levels.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cPFHpA is not as well-known as the legacy PFAS like PFOA or PFOS, but our findings show it may pose comparable risks to human health,\u201d said the study\u2019s senior author, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/faculty-search\/vaia-lida-chatzi\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lida Chatzi, MD, PhD<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, professor of population and public health sciences and director of the ShARP Center at the Keck School of Medicine. \u201cThis underscores the urgency of regulating not just the PFAS compounds we already know a lot about, but the broader class of emerging chemicals that communities are being exposed to every day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>A translational approach from patients to mechanisms<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cOur research goes beyond simple associations,\u201d said Brittney O. Baumert, PhD, MPH, lead author and postdoctoral fellow at USC. \u201cUsing a translational science approach by bridging bench science and epidemiological research, we are uncovering how these chemicals alter liver biology at the cellular level. That knowledge can ultimately help us protect vulnerable populations, especially children and adolescents.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/faculty-search\/ana-claudia-maretti-garcia\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ana C. Maretti-Mira, PhD<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, who led the in vitro experiments, added, \u201cBy mapping the pathways PFAS activate inside liver cells, we can pinpoint potential therapeutic targets to help stop PFAS-induced liver disease before it progresses.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Reducing PFAS exposure through Superfund research<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This study reflects the mission of the USC Superfund Research Program, funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, to uncover the health impacts of hazardous chemicals and translate discoveries into prevention and policy. By integrating patient-based data with advanced exposomics technologies such as metabolomics, proteomics and single-cell transcriptomics, USC researchers are bridging laboratory science and public health.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Looking ahead, the ShARP Center will focus on reducing PFAS exposures in real-world communities. Future ShARP Center projects will advance engineering innovations for PFAS treatment, increase community engagement efforts to raise awareness about exposure pathways and strategies for reducing risk, and train the next generation of environmental health and engineering scientists. A central goal of all these studies is to advance the fields of precision environmental health and precision medicine, ensuring that research findings can be translated into targeted interventions, personalized prevention strategies and evidence-based policies that protect the most vulnerable.<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h3><b>About this research<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In addition to Baumert, the study\u2019s other authors are Zhenjiang Li, Hongxu Wang, Yinqi Zhao, Qiran Jia, Jiawen Carmen\u00a0Chen, Sarah Rock, Sandrah P. Eckel, Max M. Aung, Rob McConnell, Jesse Goodrich, David V. Conti and Lida Chatzi from the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California; Ana C. Maretti-Mira, Matthew P. Salomon and Lucy Golden-Mason from the USC Research Center for Liver Diseases, Division of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California; Douglas I. Walker from the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University; Nikos Stratakis from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain; Fabian Christoph Fischer from the University of Rhode Island; Damaskini Valvi from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Scott M. Bartell from the University of California, Irvine; Thomas Inge and Justin R. Ryder from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Ann &amp; Robert H. Lurie Children\u2019s Hospital of Chicago; Todd Jenkins and Stavra Xanthakos from Cincinnati Children\u2019s Hospital Medical Center; Stephanie Sisley from Baylor College of Medicine; David E. Kleiner from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health; Rohit Kohli from Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles; and Michele A. La Merrill from the University of California, Davis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This work was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [P42ES036506]. Additional funding came from the National Institutes of Health [R01ES030691, R01ES029944, R01ES030364,\u00a0U01HG013288, P30ES007048, T32-ES013678, R01ES033688, R21ES035148,\u00a0P30ES023515, U2CES030859, R01ES032831, P2C ES033433, R21ES029681, P01CA196569, R01DK128117\u221201A1, R01DK117004]; the European Union: Advancing Tools for Human Early Lifecourse Exposome Research and Translation (ATHLETE) project [874583]; the European Union\u2019s Horizon Research and Innovation Programme [101059245]; the California Environmental Protection Agency [20-E0017]; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture [6250-51000-053]. Funding for Teen-LABS was provided by the National Institutes of Health [U01DK072493, UM1 DK072493, UM1 DK095710] and the National\u00a0Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, NIH [8UL1TR000077]. Additional support came from the National Center for Research Resources and the National\u00a0Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, NIH [UL1TR000114]. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":278,"featured_media":9385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[81,446,169,20,602],"class_list":["post-9384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","tag-department-of-population-and-public-health-sciences","tag-homepage","tag-latest","tag-research","tag-southern-california-superfund-research-and-training-program-for-pfas-assessment"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO 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