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Microplastics in the human digestive environment: A focus on the potential and challenges facing in vitro gut model development
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This review explores how microplastics travel through the human digestive system and what effects they may have on gut health. Researchers found that microplastics can carry harmful hitchhikers like heavy metals, antibiotics, and bacteria, potentially disrupting the gut microbiome and intestinal barrier. The study emphasizes the urgent need to develop better laboratory gut models to accurately simulate how microplastics interact with human digestive physiology.
Plastic pollution is a major issue worldwide, generating massive amounts of smaller plastic particles, including microplastics (MPs). Their ubiquitous nature in the environment but also in foodstuff and consumer packaged goods has revealed potential threats to humans who can be contaminated mainly through air, food and water consumption. In this review, the current literature on human exposure to MPs is summarized with a focus on the gastrointestinal tract as portal of entry. Then, we discuss the vector effect of MPs, in their pristine versus weathered forms, with well-known contaminants as heavy metals and chemicals, or more emerging ones as antibiotics or microbial pathogens, like Pseudomonas spp., Vibrio spp., Campylobacter spp. and Escherichia coli. Comprehensive knowledge on MP fate in the gastrointestinal tract and their potential impact on gut homeostasis disruption, including gut microbiota, mucus and epithelial barrier, is reported in vitro and in vivo in mammals. Special emphasis is given on the crucial need of developing robust in vitro gut models to adequately simulate human digestive physiology and absorption processes. Finally, this review points out future research directions on MPs in human intestinal health.
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Researchers used an advanced artificial gut model to study what happens when polyethylene microplastics pass through the human digestive tract under conditions mimicking repeated exposure. They found that microplastics altered the composition of gut bacteria and affected the intestinal barrier without causing overt toxicity. This is among the first studies to simulate realistic human digestive exposure to microplastics, suggesting subtle but meaningful effects on gut health.
Impact of polyethylene microplastics on human gut microbiota as assessed in an in vitro gut model
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Scientists used a lab-based model that mimics the human gut to test how tiny plastic particles (microplastics) affect our gut bacteria, the microbes that help digest food and support overall health. The study found that exposure to these plastic particles can change the balance of gut bacteria, which matters because an unhealthy gut microbiome has been linked to issues like digestive problems, weakened immunity, and inflammation. Since microplastics are increasingly found in our food and water, this research adds to growing evidence that we should take their potential health effects seriously.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.