Oxidized/unmodified-polyethylene microplastics neurotoxicity in mice: Perspective from microbiota-gut-brain axis

Microplastics (MPs) are inevitably oxidized in the environment, and their potential toxicity to organisms has attracted wide attention. However, the neurotoxicity and mechanism of oxidized polyethylene (Ox-PE) MPs to organisms remain unclear. Herein, we prepared oxidized low-density polyethylene (Ox-LDPE) and established a model of MPs exposure by continuously orally gavage of C57BL/6 J mice with LDPE-MPs/Ox-LDPE-MPs for 28 days with or without oral administration of Lactobacillus plantarum DP189 and galactooligosaccharides (DP189&GOS). The experimental results indicated that LDPE-MPs or Ox-LDPE-MPs caused several adverse effects in mice, mainly manifested by behavioral changes, disruption of the intestinal and blood-brain barrier (BBB), and simultaneous oxidative stress, inflammatory reactions, and pathological damage in the brain and intestines. Brain transcriptomic analysis revealed that the cholinergic synaptic signaling pathways, which affect cognitive function, were significantly disrupted after exposure to LDPE-MPs or Ox-LDPE-MPs. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western Blotting results further demonstrated that the critical genes (Slc5a7, Chat and Slc18a3) and proteins (Chat and Slc18a3) in the cholinergic synaptic signaling pathway were significantly down-regulated after exposure to LDPE-MPs or Ox-LDPE-MPs. These alterations lead to reduced acetylcholine concentration, which causes cognitive dysfunction in mice. Importantly, the DP189&GOS interventions effectively mitigated the MPs-induced cognitive dysfunction and intestinal microbiota alteration, improved intestinal and BBB integrity, attenuated the oxidative stress and inflammatory response, and also saw a rebound in the release of acetylcholine. These results indicated that LDPE-MPs and Ox-LDPE-MPs exert neurotoxic effects on mice by inducing oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and dysregulation of cholinergic signaling pathways in the mouse brain. That probiotic supplementation is effective in attenuating MPs-induced neurotoxicity in mice. Overall, this study reveals the potential mechanisms of neurotoxicity of LDPE-MPs and Ox-LDPE-MPs on mice and their improvement measures, necessary to assess the potential risks of plastic contaminants to human health.