Micro(nano)plastics and Their Potential Impact on Human Gut Health: A Narrative Review
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Main Pathogenetic Mechanisms of MNP-Induced Cell Toxicity
3. MNPs and the Intestinal System
3.1. Toxicity of Micro-/Nanoplastics in the Intestine
3.2. MNP Gut Immunological Impact
3.3. MNP Effects on Gut Microbiota
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Molecules | Species | Design | Size/Exposure | Effects | Study |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nanoplastics | Human | Human colon adenocarcinoma Caco-2 cell; in vitro design | PS particles between 50 and 200 nm at a concentration of 250 mg/mL for 10 to 120 min | Absence of cellular toxicity. | Abdelkhaliq 2018 [87] |
Nanoplastics | Human | Human colon adenocarcinoma Caco-2 cell; in vitro design | 100 nm PE terephthalate particles at a concentration between 1 and 30 mg/mL for an incubation time of 24 h | No evidence of increased inflammatory factors. | Magrì 2018 [88] |
Nanoplastics, microplastics | Human | Human Caco-2 and HT29-MTX-E12 cells; in vitro design | 50 nm and 0.5 μm COOH-modified PS particles, concentration (0.01 μg/mL–100 μg/mL) for an incubation time of 24 h | Absence of cellular toxicity. | Hesler 2019 [89] |
Microplastics | Human | Human Caco-2 cells and gut microbiota; in vitro design | PE microplastics between 30 and 140 μm tested at various concentrations for 48 h | Significant reduction in Caco-2 cell viability, only for high concentrations (1000 mg/L). | Huang 2021 [90] |
Microplastics | Human, mice | - Human colon adenocarcinoma Caco-2 cell; in vitro design - Male reporter gene mice; in vivo design | - 4 μm and 10 μm PS particles, variable concentration for an incubation time of 48 h - Mixture of 1 µm to 10 µm PS microplastics at a volume of 10 mL/kg and a total of one dose for 3 weeks | - Reduction in cell vitality for high concentrations (1 × 108 particles/mL); no effect on cell polarization. - Absence of histologically detectable lesions and inflammatory responses. | Stock 2019 [91] |
Microplastics | Human | HRT-18 and CMT-93 epithelial human cell lines; in vitro design | PS microparticles of 4.8–5.8 µm for a concentration of 1 mg/mL and a time between 6 and 48 h | Significant cytotoxicity in both cell lines. Oxidative stress activity was increased only in CMT-93 cells. | Mattioda 2023 [92] |
Microplastics | Mice | IRC mice divided into control and exposed group; in vivo design | PS microparticles of 5 µm for a concentration of 100 and 1000 µg/L for six weeks | Reduced mucus production and damage to the intestinal barrier. Decreased Actinobacteria content and altered microbial alpha diversity. At the genus level, a total of 15 types of bacteria changed significantly. | ** 2019 [93] |
Microplastics | Mice | Male mice exposed to two different MP sizes; in vivo design | Oral exposure to 1000 μg/L of 0.5 and 50 μm PS-MP for five weeks | Decreased mucus secretion in the intestine in both sizes of treated groups. Decreased relative abundance of Firmicutes and α-Proteobacteria in the feces. Significant changes in the richness and diversity of the caecal intestinal microbiota. | Lu 2018 [94] |
Microplastics | Mice | SPF grade C57BL/6 male mice were divided into four groups; in vivo design | Exposure to different amounts of PE microplastics between 10 and 150 μm (6, 60, and 600 μg/day for 5 consecutive weeks) | Induction of histologic inflammation in the colon and duodenum (a higher expression of TLR4, AP-1, and IRF5). Changes of IL1α and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in the blood, decrease in the count of regulatory T-lymphocytes, and an increase in the proportion of Th17 cells in the spleen. Increased number of intestinal microbial species, bacterial abundance, and diversity of flora. Significant increase in Staphylococcus abundance along with a significant decrease in Parabacteroides abundance. | Li 2020 [95] |
Microplastics, phthalate esters | Mice | Male mice (Mus musculus CD-1) divided into 12 groups and exposed to MPs and MPs contaminated with phthalate esters; in vivo design | Virgin PE spheres of size between 45 and 53 μm and concentration of 0.2 g/L (about 1.5 × 105 particles/L) for 30 days of exposure | Disruption of intestinal permeability. Increased abundance of phylum Actinobacteria and genera Lactobacillus, Adlercreutzia, Butyricimonas, and Parabacteroides. | Deng 2020 [96] |
Microplastics, nanoplastics | Mice | 6-week-old C57BL/6 J mice; in vivo design | Combined exposure to PS-NP and PS-MP (50 nm, 500, and 5000 nm, respectively, at a concentration of 20 mL/kg body weight for 28 days) | Gut barrier dysfunction by apoptosis of epithelial cells through ROS production. | Liang 2021 [97] |
Microplastics, nanoplastics | Human, mice | - CCD18-Co cells from normal human colon fibroblasts, human colon organoids; in vitro design - Seven-week-old male C57BL/6 mice; in vivo design | - Exposure to 50- and 100 nm MNP particles at varying concentrations for 48 h of incubation - 50 nm MNPs at the concentration at which the highest toxicity was found in colonic organoids, for 7 days | Concentrations of 5 mg/mL induced > 20% decrease in colonic organoid viability and increased expression of genes related to inflammation, apoptosis, and immunity. 50 nm MNPs accumulate in various mouse organs, including colon, liver, pancreas, and testes after 7 days of exposure. | Park 2023 [98] |
Microplastics | Human | 3D in vitro intestinal model comprising human intestinal epithelial cell lines Caco-2 and HT29-MTX-E12 | Exposure to 50–500 µm MP at the concentration of 823.5–1380.0 μg/cm2 for 24 h | No induction of cytotoxicity, nor pro-inflammatory response. | Lehner 2020 [99] |
Microplastics | Human, mice/sheep | Murine and sheep blood and immune cells; human-derived cell lines; in vitro design | Polypropylene MPs (50–500 µm) at various concentrations | Induction of proinflammatory cytokines in a size- and concentration-dependent manner. | Hwang 2019 [100] |
Microplastics | Mice | Six-week-old male and female ICR mice; in vivo design | 40−48 μm PE-MPs (0.125, 0.5, 2 mg/day/mouse) by gavage to mice (10 mice/sex/dose) for 90 days | Increase in the number of blood neutrophils and immunoglobulin IgA levels, alteration of spleen lymphocytes. | Park 2020 [101] |
Nanoplastics | Mice | Mice with chronic colitis; in vivo design | 100 nm polystyrene nanospheres (PS-NPs, at concentrations of 1 mg/kg, 5 mg/kg, and 25 mg/kg) for 28 consecutive days | Increase in oxidative stress and intestinal inflammation by activating the MAPK signaling pathway. | Ma 2023 [102] |
Microplastics | Mice | Male and female ICR mice; in vivo design | PS-MPs (0.5 µm and 5 µm) at a concentration of 100 µg/L and 1000 µg/L, from day 1 of gestation to the day of birth | Abundance of Actinobacteria increased, while that of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes remained unchanged. | Luo 2019 [103] |
Microplastics | Mice | Seven-week-old male C57BL/6J mice; in vivo design | Oral exposure of 5 µm MPs (0.1 mg/day) for 33 days | Increased relative abundance of Proteobacteria. Decrease in Bacteroides and Marvinbryantia and increase in Bifidobacterium. | Jiang 2021 [104] |
Microplastics, nanoplastics | Mice | C57/B6 mice (male, 8 weeks old); in vivo design | PS M/NPLs, and carboxyl-modified (PS-COOH) and aminomodified (PS-NH2) PS M/NPLs (70 nm, 5 μm in diameter), at a concentration between 2 mg and 0.2 mg/kg, for 28 days | Increased relative abundance of Proteobacteria. Increase of Verrucomicrobia at a high concentration. Reduced several short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing genera. | Qiao 2021 [105] |
Microplastics | Mice | 4-week-old female mice (KM mice); in vivo design | PET-MPs (2 μm to 631 μm) at a concentration of 500 mg/kg for 28 days | Decreased abundances of Bacteroidetes and increased abundance of Firmicutes. Increased abundance of Lactobacillus and decreased abundance of Parabacteroides. | Liu 2022 [106] |
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Covello, C.; Di Vincenzo, F.; Cammarota, G.; Pizzoferrato, M. Micro(nano)plastics and Their Potential Impact on Human Gut Health: A Narrative Review. Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 2024, 46, 2658-2677. https://doi.org/10.3390/cimb46030168
Covello C, Di Vincenzo F, Cammarota G, Pizzoferrato M. Micro(nano)plastics and Their Potential Impact on Human Gut Health: A Narrative Review. Current Issues in Molecular Biology. 2024; 46(3):2658-2677. https://doi.org/10.3390/cimb46030168
Chicago/Turabian StyleCovello, Carlo, Federica Di Vincenzo, Giovanni Cammarota, and Marco Pizzoferrato. 2024. "Micro(nano)plastics and Their Potential Impact on Human Gut Health: A Narrative Review" Current Issues in Molecular Biology 46, no. 3: 2658-2677. https://doi.org/10.3390/cimb46030168