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Oral exposure to polyethylene microplastics exacerbates the effects of a Western-style diet on the digestive tract of adult male mice
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Researchers investigated how oral exposure to polyethylene microplastics interacts with a Western-style diet to affect the digestive tract of mice over 90 days. The study found that microplastics exacerbated diet-related intestinal disruption, suggesting that dietary context plays an important role in determining the health impact of microplastic ingestion.
Microplastic pollution is a growing global concern, yet the human health effects of exposure to microplastics, particularly in interaction with dietary factors, are not well understood. In this study, we investigated the impact of polyethylene microplastics (PE-MPs) on intestinal homeostasis in mice fed either a normal (ND) or Western (WD) diet for 90 days. Mice were orally exposed to PE-MPs (10 mg/kg body weight/day) throughout the experimental period. Under ND conditions, PE-MP exposure induced subtle changes in gut microbiota composition and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production, including a significant decrease in propionate, without overt intestinal inflammation. In contrast, under WD conditions, PE-MP exposure markedly exacerbated the diet-induced phenotype. WD-fed mice exposed to PE-MPs exhibited increased body weight gain, decreased expression of tight-junction related-genes and elevated faecal levels of the inflammatory marker lipocalin-2 and secretory IgA. These effects were accompanied by decreased abundances of Akkermansiaceae and Saccharimonadaceae, enrichment of Peptostreptococcaceae, and reduced caecal levels of propionate, isobutyrate, isovalerate and caproate. Together, these findings indicate that PE-MP exposure exacerbates WD effects, resulting in altered gut microbiota composition and metabolic activity, and increased intestinal inflammation. This study emphasises the importance of taking nutritional status into account when evaluating the toxicity of MPs and sheds new light on how this emerging class of food contaminant interacts with dietary stressors to shape host-microbiome relationships.
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Researchers orally exposed adult male mice to polyethylene microplastics under both normal and high-fat diets, assessing effects on the gastrointestinal tract. The study found that diet influences microplastic-induced gut changes, with greater effects observed in animals fed a western-style high-fat diet.
Oral exposure to polyethylene microplastics of adult male mice fed a normal or western-style diet: impact on gut and gut-liver axis homeostasis
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