New Insights into Mechanisms of Endocrine- Disrupting Chemicals in Thyroid Diseases: The Epigenetic Way

In recent years, the presence in the environment of chemical compounds with thyroiddisruptingeffects is progressively increased. This phenomenon has risen concern for human healthas the preservation of thyroid system homeostasis is essential for fetal development and formaintaining psychological and physiological wellbeing. An increasing number of studies exploredthe role of different classes of toxicants in the occurrence and severity of thyroid diseases, but largeepidemiological studies are limited and only a few animal or in vitro studies have attempted toidentify the mechanisms of chemical action. Recently, epigenetic changes such as alteration ofmethylation status or modification of non-coding RNAs have been suggested as correlated topossible deleterious effects leading to different thyroid disorders in susceptible individuals. Thisreview aims to analyze the epigenetic alterations putatively induced by chemical exposures andinvolved in the onset of frequent thyroid diseases such as thyroid cancer, autoimmune thyroiditisand disruption of fetal thyroid homeostasis.