Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside impacts fecal discharge of polystyrene microplastics in mice: Potential role of microbiota-derived metabolites

Microplastic particles degraded from plastic litters are recognized as a global environmental pollutant, which can be transferred and enriched via the food chain to impact ecosystems and human health. A balanced gut microbiota contributes to human health through host-gut interactions, environmentally-driven factors such as microplastic exposure would disturb the gut bacteria and affect its functionality. Dietary compounds can remodel the compositions of gut microbes, and interact with bacteria exerting profound effects on host physiology. This study explored the effects of bayberry-derived anthocyanin cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (C3G) and microplastic polystyrene (PS) on the gut microbiome in C57BL/6 mice, especially the alterations in gut bacteria and its metabolites. Using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing, variations in gut bacterial composition and enrichment of functional pathways were found upon PS and C3G administration. Meanwhile, the differential metabolites and metabolic pathways were identified by metabolomic analysis. Importantly, colonic and fecal PS levels were found to be strongly correlated with key microbiota-derived metabolites, which are associated with xenobiotic metabolism via regulation of xenobiotics-metabolizing enzymes and transporters. These results may offer new insights regarding the protective effects of C3G against xenobiotic PS exposure and the roles of gut bacterial metabolites.