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Impact of food matrices on the characteristics and cellular toxicities of ingested nanoplastics in a simulated digestive tract
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Researchers investigated how different food components affect the toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics as they pass through a simulated human digestive system. They found that fat molecules helped stabilize and disperse the nanoplastics during digestion, increasing their uptake by intestinal cells and worsening cellular damage. The study suggests that the type of food consumed alongside nanoplastic-contaminated items could significantly influence how much harm the particles cause in the gut.
Microplastic and nanoplastic (MNP) pollution has become a major global food safety concern. MNPs can interact with food matrices, and their passage through the gastrointestinal tract can modify their properties. To explore whether and how food matrices influence MNP toxicity, we investigated the interactions between polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) and food matrices, using an in vitro gastrointestinal digestion model. Then, we tested cell viability, particle uptake and cellular toxicities induced by PS-NPs with food matrices in Caco-2 cells. The results showed that PS-NPs were aggregated, both with and without food matrices, after in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. Glyceryl trioleate exerted greater ability to stabilize digestas and to disperse PS-NPs than starch and bovine serum albumin. The protein corona's protein composition on PS-NPs varied when it interacted with different food matrices. Moreover, when combined with food matrices, the PS-NPs' uptake was enhanced, thus aggravating cellular inflammation, stress, and apoptosis levels. Finally, through co-exposure to a mixture of food matrices, we found a combined negative effect of PS-NPs and cadmium on cellular inflammation, stress, and apoptosis levels. This is the first study to compare the impact of various food matrices on the characteristics and cellular toxicities of ingested NPs in a simulated digestive tract.
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Researchers investigated how polystyrene nanoplastics behave and affect cells when consumed alongside real food, using milk as the test matrix, during simulated digestion. They found that food proteins and digestive enzymes formed a coating around the nanoplastics that changed their aggregation behavior and reduced their toxicity compared to nanoplastics alone. The study suggests that the presence of food during digestion may significantly alter how nanoplastics interact with the body, an important factor often overlooked in toxicity studies.
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Researchers investigated how polystyrene microplastics of different sizes and concentrations affect fat digestion and absorption using laboratory and tissue-based models. They found that microplastics interfered with the digestive process by interacting with digestive enzymes and bile salts, and that smaller particles at higher concentrations had the greatest inhibitory effect on fat absorption. The findings suggest that microplastics consumed with food could alter how the body processes dietary fats.
The potential effects of in vitro digestion on the physicochemical and biological characteristics of polystyrene nanoplastics
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Researchers studied how the human digestive process changes the physical and biological properties of polystyrene nanoplastics. They found that digestive fluids altered the surface characteristics of the particles, potentially affecting how they interact with gut cells. The study suggests that the form of nanoplastics that actually reaches our intestines may behave differently than the pristine particles typically used in lab studies.
Dietary components regulate the gastrointestinal fate of polystyrene nanoplastics through differential aggregation, mucus transport and Caco-2 cell interactions
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Researchers ran 200 nanometer polystyrene particles through simulated digestion together with ghee, casein or cellulose. Casein kept the particles dispersed, while ghee and cellulose made them aggregate. With cellulose, 18% of Caco-2 intestinal cells interacted with particles, against about 35% with casein or ghee. The work was done in the lab.
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This study tracked polystyrene nano- and microplastic particles through a simulated digestive process mixed with a whey protein drink, then tested whether the particles could be absorbed by human intestinal cells. The work contributes to understanding how dietary microplastics survive digestion and whether they can pass through the gut lining into the body.
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