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Natural Products as Protective Modulators of Environmental Pollutant Toxicity Through the Gut-X Axis.
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This review summarizes existing research on how pollutants, including microplastics and nanoplastics, disrupt gut bacteria and gut-linked body systems. It also examines studies on plant compounds and probiotics in relation to these gut disruptions, noting that most evidence comes from mechanism studies rather than tests of specific pollutants.
Environmental pollutants, including heavy metals, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, particulate matter, persistent organic pollutants, pesticides, and micro/nanoplastics, perturb the gut microbiome and intestinal barrier and propagate oxidative, inflammatory, metabolic, and epigenetic injury through interconnected gut-organ axes. This narrative review reframes the gut-X axis as a mechanistic platform for evaluating natural products as protective agents against pollutant toxicity. We summarize pollutant-induced dysbiosis, barrier dysfunction, microbial-metabolite disruption, and immunometabolic reprogramming, then examine evidence for natural products and microbiota-active interventions, including polyphenols, flavonoids, triterpenoids, medicinal-plant constituents, polysaccharides, dietary fibers, and probiotic-derived strategies. Particular attention is given to antioxidant and anti-inflammatory signaling, restoration of epithelial integrity, modulation of short-chain fatty acids and bile acids, suppression of TLR4/NF-κB and NLRP3 signaling, and regulation of immune-cell metabolism. The available literature contains stronger mechanistic evidence than direct pollutant-specific intervention studies; therefore, established protective mechanisms are distinguished from evidence that remains indirect or preclinical. The review identifies the gut-X axis as a promising route through which natural products may reduce systemic consequences of environmental exposure and highlights priorities for pollutant-specific animal studies, human cohorts, pharmacokinetic characterization, combination strategies, and integrated multi-omics and in silico approaches.
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This review synthesizes evidence from animal models, human studies, and mechanistic experiments showing how microplastics, pesticides, and heavy metals each disrupt gut microbiota composition, reduce beneficial bacteria, and compromise intestinal barrier integrity and host health.
Micro/nanoplastic-induced gut dysbiosis: A key driver of systemic toxicity via the gut-organ axes in animals
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Tiny plastic particles (microplastics and nanoplastics) that we're constantly exposed to through food, water, and air may harm our health largely by disrupting the balance of good and bad bacteria in our gut, according to this review of existing animal research. This gut disruption doesn't stay contained—it can trigger problems throughout the body, including in the brain, liver, kidneys, and reproductive system, by traveling along "gut-organ" communication pathways. While this research is based on animal studies rather than humans, it suggests that protecting gut health could be an important strategy for reducing the potential harms of plastic pollution on our bod
Interactions between environmental pollutants and gut microbiota: A review connecting the conventional heavy metals and the emerging microplastics
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This review examines how environmental pollutants, including both heavy metals and microplastics, interact with gut bacteria in humans and animals. The authors found that these pollutants can disrupt the balance of gut microbiota, which may contribute to various health problems, and that gut bacteria can also transform pollutants in ways that change their toxicity.
Ingested microplastics and the gut–brain axis: A systematic review of mechanistic pathways and neurobiological impacts in human and preclinical models
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This review summarizes existing research on tiny plastic particles and the gut-brain connection in rodent and human cell studies. Swallowed or inhaled plastics built up in the digestive tract, altered gut bacteria, and were linked to inflammation and behavior changes in animals. In rodent studies, treatments like fecal transplants and certain probiotics were linked to reduced brain-related harm from plastic exposure.
Microplastics as Microbiota Modulators: Rewiring the Gut Metabolism Immune Axis.
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This review summarizes existing research on how microplastics may affect gut bacteria, the gut's protective lining, and digestive chemical signals, mostly based on animal and lab cell studies. These changes were linked to inflammation and disrupted metabolism in those studies, but human evidence remains limited, and researchers call for more standardized studies.
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