Immune and inflammatory responses of human macrophages, dendritic cells, and T-cells in presence of micro- and nanoplastic of different types and sizes

Environmental pollution by microplastics (MPs) is a growing concern regarding their impact on aquatic and terrestrial systems and human health. Typical exposure routes of MPs are dermal contact, digestion, and inhalation. Recent in vitro and in vivo studies observed alterations in immunity after MPs exposure, but systemic studies using primary human immune cells are scarce. In our investigation, we addressed the effect of polystyrene (PS) and poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) in three different sizes (50-1100 nm) as well as amino-modified PS (PS-NH; 50 nm) on cells of the adaptive and innate immune system. T-cells isolated from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were least affected regarding the cytotoxicity but displayed increased activation marker expression after 72 h, and strongly modulated cytokine secretion patterns. Conversely, phagocytic dendritic cells and macrophages derived from isolated monocytes were highly sensitive to pristine MPs. Their marker expression suggested a downregulation of the inflammatory phenotypes indicative of M2 macrophage induction after MPs exposure for 24 h. Our results showed that even pristine MPs affected immune cell function and inflammatory phenotype dependent on MPs polymers, size, and immune cell type.