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Quercetin intervention mitigates small intestinal damage and immunologic derangement induced by polystyrene nanoplastics: Insights from multi-omics analysis in mice
Summary
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.
Nanoplastics (NPs), which belong to emerging environmental pollutants, threaten environmental sustainability and human health. Despite recent studies have reported that NPs damage the gastrointestinal tract and immune homeostasis, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Polyphenols have been found to promote NPs excretion by interacting with intestinal flora (IF). However, the potential mechanisms and action targets of this are still poorly understood. To address these knowledge gaps, we investigated the impact of quercetin and three concentrations of polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) in mice using an integrated phenotypic and multi-omics analysis. Our findings demonstrated that PS-NPs accumulate within the intestine, resulting in impairments to intestinal tissue and barrier function, as well as disturbing the expression of immune-response small intestinal genes and composition of IF. Exposure to PS-NPs significantly elevate the level of intestinal IgG and CD20 B cells, while inhibiting T cells activation. Furthermore, PS-NPs could induce systemic immune and serum insulin level disorders. Quercetin might mitigate PS-NPs-induced intestinal damage and immune disorders though reversing IF disorders, gene expression changes, and their interaction.