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Gut-on-a-Chip Reveals Reduced Nanoplastic-Induced Inflammation Through Enhanced Peristalsis
Summary
A gut-on-a-chip device with integrated sensors showed that nanoplastics caused cell damage, tight junction loss, and inflammatory cytokine peaks (IL-6, TNF-α) within 24 hours, but that increasing mechanical peristaltic strain from 5% to higher levels significantly reduced these inflammatory responses.
Nanoplastics (NPs) pollution threatens human health, particularly the digestive system, by exacerbating intestinal inflammation and increasing the risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Using a biomimetic gut-on-a-chip (GOC) with integrated sensors, we investigated NPs' effects and explored enhanced peristalsis as a potential intervention. The GOC mimicked intestinal peristalsis via periodic stretching and detected inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α over 12 days. NPs caused cell damage, tight junction protein loss, and cytokine peaks at 24 hours. Remarkably, increasing strain from 5% to 6.5% reduced IL-6 and TNF-α secretion by 2.73-fold and 3.34-fold, highlighting peristalsis’ protective role.