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Bisphenol A is a constituent of many plastic food containers, commonly found in the body of a large majority of the population, regardless of age. But BPA is also a hormone-like molecule, capable of mimicking the effect of estrogens, the female sex hormones which, beyond their role in reproductive function, are essential to the development of organs like the brain and the cardiovascular system.

• The INRA researchers have shown that the digestive system of the rat is very sensitive to low doses of BPA that affect intestinal permeability, visceral pain and the immune response to gastrointestinal inflammation.
• They also reveal how pre-and postnatal exposure of animals may weaken the function of "intestinal barrier" in the adulthood.

This work opens new perspectives in the risk assessment of exposure to endocrine disruptors.

These results were published in the Proceedings of the American Academy of Sciences (PNAS).