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Ingestion of environmentally sourced polyvinyl chloride microplastic fragments increases colon inflammation and fibrosis in mice
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Researchers fed mice food contaminated with environmentally sourced PVC microplastic fragments containing 16 chemical additives, including 7 known endocrine disruptors. While the microplastics caused increased inflammation markers in healthy intestines, they significantly worsened symptoms in mice with chronic colitis, increasing fibrosis and recruiting more inflammatory cells to the colon. The study adds to evidence that real-world microplastics, with their complex mix of chemical additives, may be particularly harmful to individuals with pre-existing gut conditions.
Plastics released into the environment inevitably degrade into microplastics, which subsequently enter the food web. As a result, humans are chronically exposed to microplastics through ingestion. However, studies evaluating the effects of environmentally derived microplastics are limited. This study aimed to elucidate the impact of subchronic exposure to environmentally sourced polyvinyl chloride (PVC) microplastics on mammalian intestinal tissue and gut microbiota. Microplastics were generated from cryoground environmental debris and consisted of irregularly shaped PVC fragments (45-100 μm), containing 16 additives, including 7 known endocrine disruptors. Mice were exposed to PVC-contaminated food (50 μg/g) for 26 days. Under steady-state conditions, PVC exposure increased molecular markers of inflammation and oxidative stress without inducing overt histomorphological alterations in the colon. In a model of chronic colitis, PVC exposure exacerbated clinical symptoms, histological damage, and molecular markers of inflammation and fibrosis. These effects were associated with increased recruitment of neutrophils to the colon. Correlation analyses revealed significant associations between colitis exacerbation and increased relative abundances of Gastranaerophilales, Parasutterella, Clostridium sensu stricto 1, Colidextribacter, and Dubosiella, alongside a reduction in Lactobacillus and an enrichment of the isopropanol biosynthesis pathway. These findings add to growing evidence that real-world microplastics, including non-spherical PVC fragments, can induce intestinal toxicity.
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Researchers exposed mice to a realistic mixture of environmentally sourced microplastics composed of the four most common polymer types and studied the effects on the colon. They found that ingestion of this mixture promoted inflammation and enhanced tumor development in the mouse colon. The study suggests that exposure to environmentally relevant microplastic mixtures may have implications for colorectal health that warrant further investigation.
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