The Hypothalamus and Pituitary glands are the seat of the third eye and the entire endocrine system. Each gland in the system is responsive to environmental, physical, and emotional stimuli. The hypothalamus perceives what is happening in the body through hormonal feedback loops. The Pituitary releases hormones in response. Glyphosate disrupts these feedback loops by affecting hormone creation and G-protein receptor site functionality causing deregulation of the entire hormonal system.
Glyphosate is an endocrine disruptor in human cells.[i] It causes the multiplication of estrogen sensitive human breast cancer cells.[ii] An endocrine disruptor is a chemical that either mimics or blocks hormones and disrupts the body’s normal functions. This disruption can happen through altering normal hormone levels, halting or stimulating the production of excess hormones, or interacting directly with the organ the hormone was meant to regulate.[iii] Endocrine disruptors can increase or decrease hormone production, imitate hormones or even transform one hormone into another. Endocrine disruptors can also tell cells to die prematurely, compete with essential nutrients, and build up in hormone-producing organs. These imbalances and malfunctions of the endocrine system can lead to diabetes, hypertension, obesity, kidney disease, cancer (breast, prostate, liver, brain, thyroid, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma);[iv],[v].
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The endocrine system starts with a healthy biome. The biome acts like an endocrine organ by primarily being responsible for the creation of hormonal precursors.
Some areas of the endocrine system affected by glyphosate:
a. Thyroid Gland: The thyroid gland regulates metabolic rate and protein synthesis. The amino acid tyrosine is synthesized in the body from the essential amino acid, phenylalanine. Phenylalanine must be sourced from food or the bacteria that inhabit the intestines. Tyrosine is a byproduct of the shikimic-acid pathway in both plants and bacteria. The thyroid hormones triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) are created from iodine and tyrosine based on a feedback loop that stimulates or suppresses the release of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) from the anterior pituitary gland. The thyroid also produces the hormone calcitonin, which plays a role in calcium and phosphate homeostasis and thyroid hormone levels.
b. Glyphosate toxicity interferes with the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis by inducing a phenylalanine deficiency by interrupting the shikimic-acid pathway. As phenylalanine is a precursor of T4, its production is reduced, the result of which can lead to hypothyroidism. Conversely, glyphosate also induces a reduction in the genes encoding the deiodinase enzyme necessary for the conversion of T4 to T3 which can lead to hyperthyroidism. It also interferes with the functionality of the thyroxine (T4) GPCR sites receptive to T4, thus not communicating the excess to the hypothalamus, resulting in continued creation of more thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), driving hyperthyroidism further. Hypothyroidism can also be induced by manganese deficiency or the impairment of DNA coding for the viability of thyroid stimulating hormone, thus under-stimulating the thyroid’s creation of thyroxine (T4). Activated EBV also activates auto-immune conditions such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in the thyroid (starting as hyperthyroidism followed by the auto-immune condition of hypothyroidism) when the immune system develops antibodies against the thyroid to keep thyroxine production in check.
c. Adrenal Gland: The adrenal gland is responsible for hormone production in the adrenal cortex. Glyphosate interferes with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responsible for directing levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) aimed at the adrenal medulla for simulating the creation and release of epinephrine (adrenaline).
d. Androgens: Glyphosate interferes with the production for the enzyme aromatase, necessary to convert androgens to their end products estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. The creation of these hormones is also dependent on vitamin C. The enzyme G6PD converts vitamin C to a usable form for these reactions. Glyphosate disrupts the functionality of this enzyme, thus the concern for vitamin C. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis regulates the creation of hormones from the adrenal cortex; adrenal output of cortisone, adrenaline, and the sex-hormones progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone, which maintain their relative concentrations based on G-protein coupled receptor site functionality in the respective glands and feedback loops to the hypothalamus. Accordingly, all hormonal regulation can be disrupted by lack of any one hormone or receptor site failure. Failure to sexually mature, differentiate ones’ sex, infertility, and miscarriage can be a result.
e. Brain Development: Glyphosate is responsible for retinoic acid (Vitamin A) deficiency which regulates the CYP protein enzymatic gene signaling of the development of the neural tube. Neurulation is cobalamin (B12) and folate (B9) dependent, as glyphosate depletes these essential vitamins serious defects can arise. It is also responsible for the disruption in the capacity of the pituitary and thyroid to regulate embryonic and fetal development is impaired results in severe birth defects.
f. Blood Pressure: Due to the deleterious effects of glyphosate on the kidney’s ability to detoxify the body, and disruption of the hormones of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, varying concentrations of vasopressin, modulation in urination output, water retention and/or high blood pressure are a result.
g. cAMP pathway: Glyphosate also interferes with the production of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). The cAMP-dependent pathway, also known as the adenylyl cyclase enzyme dependent pathway, is a G-protein coupled receptor-triggered signaling cascade used in intracellular communication and responsiveness to hormones in the endocrine system, glucagon levels and sperm motility. Calcitonin is the necessary driver of this signaling pathway.
References:
[i] Gasnier, C., Dumont, C., Benachour, N., Clair, E., Chagnon, M.C. and Séralini, G.E. Glyphosate-based herbicides are toxic and endocrine disruptors in human cell lines. Toxicology, 262(3): 184-191, 2009.
[ii] Thongprakaisang, S., Thiantanawat, A., Rangkadilok, N., Suriyo, T. and Satayavivad, J. Glyphosate induces human breast cancer cells growth via estrogen receptors, Food and Chemical Toxicology, 59: 129-136. 2013.
[iii] Nancy L. Swanson, Andre Leu, Jon Abrahamson. and Bradley Wallet. Genetically engineered crops, glyphosate and the deterioration of health in the United States of America. Journal of Organic Systems, 9(2), 2014. https://jeffreydachmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Genetically-engineered-crops-glyphosate-deterioration-health-United-States-Swanson-J-Organic-Systems-20141.pdf.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Marc, J., Mulner-Lorillon, O. and Bellé, R. Glyphosate-based pesticides affect cell cycle regulation, Biology of the Cell, 96(3): 245-249. 2004.