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Microplastics and the gut microbiome: How chronically exposed species may suffer from gut dysbiosis
Summary
This review explores how chronic microplastic exposure may disrupt the natural balance of gut bacteria in wildlife, a condition known as dysbiosis. Researchers suggest that ingesting microplastics can cause mechanical damage to the gastrointestinal tract, introduce foreign bacteria, and deliver chemical additives that disturb gut microbial communities. The study highlights that microplastic-induced gut dysbiosis could weaken immune systems, promote infections, and contribute to chronic health issues in exposed species.
As small pieces of plastics known as microplastics pollute even the remotest parts of Earth, research currently focuses on unveiling how this pollution may affect biota. Despite increasing awareness, one potentially major consequence of chronic exposure to microplastics has been largely neglected: the impact of the disruption of the symbiosis between host and the natural community and abundance pattern of the gut microbiota. This so-called dysbiosis might be caused by the consumption of microplastics, associated mechanical disruption within the gastrointestinal tract, the ingestion of foreign and potentially pathogenic bacteria, as well as chemicals, which make-up or adhere to microplastics. Dysbiosis may interfere with the host immune system and trigger the onset of (chronic) diseases, promote pathogenic infections, and alter the gene capacity and expression of gut microbiota. We summarize how chronically exposed species may suffer from microplastics-induced gut dysbiosis, deteriorating host health, and highlight corresponding future directions of research.