Systematic Screening of Depression-Related Neurotoxicity Across 26 Bisphenols Reveals an ESR1–CREB1–GRIN2B-Associated Mechanism

Abstract

Bisphenols (BPs) are widespread environmental endocrine disruptors, but their potential depression-related neurotoxicity has not been systematically assessed. Here, we combined machine learning (ML), network toxicology, molecular docking, and in vivo experiments to screen 26 bisphenols for depression-related neurotoxic risk. We first integrated bisphenol A (BPA)-related targets with depression-related genes to build a chemical-gene-phenotype-disease network and an adverse outcome pathway (AOP) framework. We then used nine ML algorithms to rank the predicted risk of the 26 bisphenols. Molecular docking showed that the predicted high-risk compounds had strong binding affinity for estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1). The AOP analysis further suggested the involvement of the ESR1–cAMP response element-binding protein 1 (CREB1)–glutamate ionotropic receptor N-methyl-D-aspartate type subunit 2B (GRIN2B) pathway. In vivo experiments showed that BPA exposure caused neuronal damage in the cornu ammonis 3 (CA3) region of the rat hippocampus and significantly reduced the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of the corresponding genes Esr1, Creb1, and Grin2b in hippocampal tissue. Overall, this study screened and prioritized the model-predicted depression-related neurotoxic risk of 26 bisphenols, supports a role for the ESR1–CREB1–GRIN2B pathway in BPA-induced neurotoxicity, and provides mechanistic evidence for bisphenol risk assessment.