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Oral Exposure to Polypropylene Microplastics Exacerbates Cow’s Milk Allergy in a Murine Model by Skewing the DCs/T-Cell Response toward Th2 Polarization
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Researchers demonstrated using a dendritic cell and T-cell co-culture system that polypropylene microplastic exposure enhances antigen uptake and skews T-cell differentiation toward the Th2 immune response, potentially worsening cow's milk allergy susceptibility in infants — highlighting food contamination with microplastics as a plausible driver of rising allergy prevalence.
DCs/T-cell coculture system confirmed that PP enhanced antigen uptake by DCs and shifted naïve T-cell differentiation toward Th2 polarization, eventually aggravating CMA susceptibility. This study highlighted the potential health risk posed by NMPs contamination in food and suggested a possible contribution to the escalating prevalence of CMA in infants.
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Oral exposure to nanoplastics and food allergy in mice fed a normal or high-fat diet
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Researchers studied how oral exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics affects food allergy responses in mice fed either a normal or high-fat diet. They found that nanoplastics worsened allergic reactions to a food protein, particularly in mice on the high-fat diet, by increasing gut permeability and shifting immune responses. The study suggests that the combination of nanoplastic exposure and a Western-style diet may be contributing to the rising prevalence of food allergies.
The Impact of Microplastics on Allergy: Current Status and Future Research Directions
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This study reviews current evidence on how microplastics may influence allergic responses, noting that microplastics can compromise epithelial barriers and promote type 2 inflammation associated with allergies. The authors emphasize an urgent need for research into dose-dependent immunotoxicological mechanisms to better understand the relationship between microplastic exposure and allergy development. The study calls for evidence-based policies to reduce microplastic exposure and its potential contribution to the growing allergy burden.
Oral exposure to nano- and microplastics: Potential effects in food allergies?
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This review explored whether exposure to nano- and microplastics through food could contribute to the rising rates of food allergies worldwide. Researchers found that these tiny plastic particles may alter the structure of food allergens, increase gut permeability, promote intestinal inflammation, and disrupt the immune system. While direct evidence is still limited, the study suggests that microplastics in the diet could potentially heighten sensitivity to food allergens.
Microplastics Interact with β-lactoglobulin: Implications for Protein Structure, Digestibility, and Allergenicity
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Researchers studied how microplastics commonly released from baby bottles interact with the major milk allergen beta-lactoglobulin. The study found that polypropylene, polyethersulfone, and polyphenylsulfone microplastics altered the protein's structure, which may affect its digestibility and allergenic properties, raising potential concerns for infants with cow's milk allergy.
Polystyrene microplastics trigger intestinal inflammation through CXCL11-mediated T-cell recruitment
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Scientists found that microplastics, tiny plastic particles now found in water, food, and even our bodies, can trigger significant gut inflammation in fish by activating a specific immune signaling pathway that recruits inflammatory cells into intestinal tissue. While this study was done in zebrafish, not humans, it reveals a detailed biological mechanism for how these ubiquitous plastic particles might damage gut health, raising important questions about similar effects in people given how widely microplastics have infiltrated our environment and food supply.
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