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Polystyrene microplastics-induced gut-liver axis injury in mice: Protective effect and mechanisms of sodium humate.
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Tiny plastic particles called microplastics—found in food, water, and air—can damage the gut lining and liver in mice, allowing harmful substances to leak into the body and trigger inflammation. This study found that sodium humate, a natural, low-cost compound, helped repair the gut barrier and calm inflammation, protecting mice from this damage. While this research was done in mice, it offers early hope for a simple, affordable way to guard against the health effects of the microplastics we're increasingly exposed to every day.
Microplastics (MPs), as widespread and increasingly prevalent environmental pollutants, pose a persistent threat to aquatic organisms and mammals, including humans. Sodium humate (HNa), a naturally derived humate salt that is widely available, low-cost, and has a favorable safety profile, exhibits multiple biological activities, including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. This study was designed to evaluate whether HNa could protect against intestinal and hepatic injury caused by polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) exposure in mice and to clarify the involvement of the gut-liver axis. HNa intervention alleviated impairment of body weight gain and colonic pathological injury following PS-MPs exposure. HNa enhanced intestinal antioxidant capacity, suppressed pro-inflammatory mediator expression, and promoted anti-inflammatory factor expression. Furthermore, HNa upregulated the expression of mucins and adherens junction and tight junction proteins, thereby restoring intestinal barrier function and limiting endotoxin translocation. In the liver, HNa ameliorated histopathological lesions, improved biochemical injury markers, attenuated inflammatory responses, and suppressed excessive activation of the TLR4/NF-κB pathway. Collectively, HNa mitigated gut-liver axis injury following PS-MPs exposure in mice through coordinated protection of intestinal barrier integrity and attenuation of hepatic inflammatory signaling. This study provides the first experimental evidence that HNa mitigates PS-MPs toxicity by protecting the gut-liver axis, supporting its potential as a practical intervention strategy against MPs-related digestive system injury.
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Researchers found that quercetin, a natural compound found in fruits and vegetables, protected mice from gut damage and immune system disruption caused by polystyrene nanoplastics. The nanoplastics damaged the small intestine and disrupted immune balance, but quercetin reversed much of this harm by restoring healthy gut bacteria and gene activity. This suggests that dietary compounds like quercetin might help counteract some negative health effects of nanoplastic exposure.
Gut dysbiosis exacerbates inflammatory liver injury induced by environmentally relevant concentrations of nanoplastics via the gut-liver axis
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This mouse study found that swallowing nanoplastics at levels found in the environment disrupted gut bacteria and damaged the intestinal barrier, allowing toxins to leak into the bloodstream and cause liver inflammation. When researchers transplanted gut bacteria from nanoplastic-exposed mice into healthy mice, those mice also developed liver damage. This demonstrates that nanoplastics may harm the liver indirectly by first disrupting the gut, a finding relevant to understanding how everyday plastic exposure could affect human health.
Bifidobacterium Pseudolongum‐Derived Inosine Mitigates Polystyrene Nanoplastics‐Induced Hepatic Injury by Inhibiting the Polarization of M1 Macrophages
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Tiny plastic particles from everyday exposure can damage the liver, and this mouse study found that they do so partly by wiping out a helpful gut bacterium and its byproduct, a molecule called inosine, that normally keeps liver inflammation in check. When researchers restored this bacterium or gave the mice inosine directly, it calmed down the inflammatory immune cells and protected the liver from plastic-related damage. While this research is still in the early animal-testing stage, it points to a promising future strategy—boosting specific gut bacteria—that could help protect our livers from the health effects of the microplastics we're increasingly ex
Gut microbiota and liver metabolomics reveal the potential mechanism of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG modulating the liver toxicity caused by polystyrene microplastics in mice
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Researchers found that the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG helped protect mice from liver damage caused by polystyrene microplastic exposure. The probiotic worked by restoring healthy gut bacteria and normalizing liver metabolic pathways disrupted by the microplastics. The study suggests that supporting gut health through beneficial bacteria may help mitigate some of the toxic effects microplastics have on the liver.
Environmentally Relevant Concentrations of Microplastic Exposure Cause Cholestasis and Bile Acid Metabolism Dysregulation through a Gut-Liver Loop in Mice
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Mice exposed to environmentally realistic levels of polystyrene microplastics for 30 days developed damaged intestinal barriers, liver injury, and disrupted bile acid metabolism. The study revealed a gut-liver feedback loop where microplastics alter gut bacteria, which changes bile acid production, which in turn causes further liver damage, suggesting a mechanism by which everyday microplastic exposure could harm digestive health.
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