Metabolomic characteristics in human CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells exposed to polystyrene nanoplastics

A metabolomics perspective on the effect of environmental micro and nanoplastics on living organisms: A review

The increasing trend regarding the use of plastics has arisen an exponential concern on the fate of their derived products to the environment. Among these derivatives, microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) have been featured for their associated environmental impact due to their low molecular size and high surface area, which has prompted their ubiquitous transference among all environmental interfaces. Due to the heterogenous chemical composition of MNPs, the study of these particles has focused a high number of studies, as a result of the myriad of associated physicochemical properties that contribute to the co-transference of a wide range of contaminants, thus becoming a major challenge for the scientific community. In this sense, both primary and secondary MNPs are well-known to be adscribed to industrial and urbanized areas, from which they are massively released to the environment through a multiscale level, involving the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. Consequently, much research has been conducted on the understanding of the interconnection between those interfaces, that motivate the spread of these contaminants to biological systems, being mostly represented by the biosphere, especially phytosphere and, finally, the anthroposphere. These findings have highlighted the potential hazardous risk for human health through different mechanisms from the environment, requiring a much deeper approach to define the real risk of MNPs exposure. As a result, there is a gap of knowledge regarding the environmental impact of MNPs from a high-throughput perspective. In this review, a metabolomics-based overview on the impact of MNPs to all environmental interfaces was proposed, considering this technology a highly valuable tool to decipher the real impact of MNPs on biological systems, thus opening a novel perspective on the study of these contaminants.

Foodborne and airborne polyethersulfone nanoplastics respectively induce liver and lung injury in mice: Comparison with microplastics

Micro/nanoplastics (MNP) are ubiquitous in the environment and multiple living organisms. The toxicity of some common types of MNP, e.g., polyethersulfone (PES) MNP, remains poorly understood. Multi-omics approaches were used in this study to determine the effects of foodborne and airborne PES MNP on liver and lung, respectively. Foodborne MNP were capable of inducing gut microbial dysbiosis, gut and serum metabolic disruption, and liver transcriptomic dysregulation, and affecting serum antioxidant activity and liver function, resulting in liver injury. As for the airborne MNP, they were found to induce nasal and lung microbial dysbiosis, serum and lung metabolic disruption, and liver transcriptome disturbance, and cause disrupted serum antioxidant activity and lung injury. Foodborne and airborne PES NP were found to respectively induce greater liver and lung toxicity than MP, which could be associated with the differences between NP and MP exposures. The relevant results suggest that foodborne PES MNP could disrupt the "gut microbiota-gut-liver" axis and induce hepatic injury, while airborne PES MNP could affect the "airborne microbiota-lung" axis and cause lung injury. The findings could benefit the diagnoses of liver and lung injury respectively induced by foodborne and airborne PES MNP, as well as the proper use of PES in human living environment.

Journey of micronanoplastics with blood components

The entry of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) into the human body is inevitable. They enter blood circulation through ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact by crossing the gut-lung-skin barrier (the epithelium of the digestive tract, the respiratory tract, and the cutaneous layer). There are many reports on their toxicities to organs and tissues. This paper presents the first thorough assessment of MNP-driven bloodstream toxicity and the mechanism of toxicity from the viewpoint of both MNP and environmental co-pollutant complexes. Toxic impacts include plasma protein denaturation, hemolysis, reduced immunity, thrombosis, blood coagulation, and vascular endothelial damage, among others, which can lead to life-threatening diseases. Protein corona formation, oxidative stress, cytokine alterations, inflammation, and cyto- and genotoxicity are the key mechanisms involved in toxicity. MNPs change the secondary structure of plasma proteins, thereby preventing their transport functions (for nutrients, drugs, oxygen, etc.). MNPs inhibit erythropoiesis by influencing hematopoietic stem cell proliferation and differentiation. They cause red blood cell and platelet aggregation, as well as increased adherence to endothelial cells, which can lead to thrombosis and cardiovascular disease. White blood cells and immune cells phagocytose MNPs, provoking inflammation. However, research gaps still exist, including gaps regarding the combined toxicity of MNPs and co-pollutants, toxicological studies in human models, advanced methodologies for toxicity analysis, bioaccumulation studies, inflammation and immunological responses, dose-response relationships of MNPs, and the effect of different physiochemical characteristics of MNPs. Furthermore, most studies have analyzed toxicity using prepared MNPs; hence, studies must be undertaken using true-to-life MNPs to determine the real-world scenario. Additionally, nanoplastics may further degrade into monomers, whose toxic effects have not yet been explored. The research gaps highlighted in this review will inspire future studies on the toxicity of MNPs in the vascular/circulatory systems utilizing in vivo models to enable more reliable health risk assessment.