Exposure to the Widely Used Pyrethroid Pesticide Deltamethrin, Does Not Exacerbate High Fat Diet Induced Obesity or Insulin Resistance in C57BL/6J Mice

Deltamethrin is a commonly used pesticide for the control of mosquito populations. Despite widespread use, the effects of deltamethrin on adiposity and glucose homeostasis have been equivocal with some studies showing increased, decreased and no effect on adiposity and glycemic control. However, no study to date has investigated the effect of deltamethrin in mice housed at thermoneutral temperatures, which is important for modelling metabolic diseases in rodents due to reduced thermal stress and constitutive activation of brown adipose tissue. In the current study we demonstrate for the first time that deltamethrin reduces uncoupling protein-1 expression in brown adipocytes cultured in vitro at concentrations as low as 1pm. Meanwhile, in-vivo deltamethrin does not appear to alter glycemic control or promote adiposity at exposures equivalent to 0.01, 0.1 or 1.0 mg/kg/day. Together, our study demonstrates environmentally relevant exposure to deltamethrin does not exacerbate diet induced obesity or insulin resistance.