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Extracellular vesicles as mediators of metabolomic changes in response to PET microplastics
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Researchers fed piglets PET microplastics (a common plastic used in food packaging) and found that the particles changed the chemical signals carried by extracellular vesicles, which are tiny messengers that cells use to communicate with each other. The altered signals disrupted fat processing, energy production, sugar metabolism, and hormone production. This reveals a previously unknown way that microplastics could cause widespread disruption throughout the body.
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are essential mediators of intercellular communication. They play a crucial role in maintaining homeostasis, regulating physiological processes and contribute to the development of various diseases. Microplastics can enter the human body as ubiquitous pollutants and have been detected in various tissues. In the body, they can disrupt physiological functions, leading to increasing health concerns. However, their impact on EV-mediated communication remains poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether PET microplastics - one of the most used materials in plastic packaging - affect the content of EVs using immature pigs as a model organism. The global metabolomic profile of serum-derived EVs was analyzed by UPLC-MS in piglets treated with either a low (0.1 g/day) or a high dose (1 g/day) of PET microplastics for 4 weeks. The analysis showed that a low dose affected the expression of 24 metabolites, while a high dose affected the expression of 31 metabolites. The differentially expressed metabolites were involved in the regulation of lipid signaling pathways, mitochondrial dysfunction, disruption of glucose metabolism and impaired steroidogenesis. The results of these studies reveal a new pathway of communication in the body in response to PET microplastics.
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Researchers discovered that PET microplastics can be transported within the body through tiny cellular packages called extracellular vesicles, which cells naturally use to communicate with each other. They found that exposure to PET microplastics altered the content and behavior of these vesicles, potentially allowing plastic particles to reach tissues beyond the initial site of exposure. The study reveals a previously unknown biological pathway through which microplastics may spread their effects throughout organisms.
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This review explores the newly discovered relationship between microplastics and extracellular vesicles, tiny particles that cells use to communicate with each other. Evidence indicates that microplastics can alter how these vesicles are distributed and what molecular signals they carry, potentially disrupting normal cell communication. Understanding this interaction could provide important insights into how microplastic exposure may contribute to inflammation, metabolic changes, and other health effects.
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Scientists discovered that cells can transfer polystyrene microplastic particles to other cells through tiny membrane-enclosed packages called extracellular vesicles. This finding reveals a previously unknown mechanism for how microplastics could spread between cells in the body, potentially explaining how plastic particles move through tissues after initial exposure.
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This review examines how scientists use metabolomics, the study of small molecules produced by cellular processes, to understand the toxic effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on living organisms. The research shows that these plastic particles disrupt metabolism in consistent ways across species, affecting energy production, fat processing, and amino acid pathways. These shared metabolic disruptions across different organisms suggest that microplastics could cause similar metabolic problems in humans.
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