Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Oral exposure to nano- and microplastics: Potential effects in food allergies?

This review explored whether exposure to nano- and microplastics through food could contribute to the rising rates of food allergies worldwide. Researchers found that these tiny plastic particles may alter the structure of food allergens, increase gut permeability, promote intestinal inflammation, and disrupt the immune system. While direct evidence is still limited, the study suggests that microplastics in the diet could potentially heighten sensitivity to food allergens.

2024 Allergy medicine. 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Intestinal barrier dysfunction and food allergy

This review applies the epithelial barrier hypothesis to food allergy, arguing that environmental exposures including microplastics, nanoplastics, food additives, and detergents disrupt gut and skin barriers and drive the rise in allergic disease.

2024 Rivista di immunologia ed allergologia pediatrica. 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Epithelial barrier hypothesis: Effect of the external exposome on the microbiome and epithelial barriers in allergic disease

This review proposes the 'epithelial barrier hypothesis,' which suggests that modern environmental exposures, including microplastics, air pollution, and processed food additives, are damaging the protective barriers of our skin, gut, and airways. When these barriers break down, foreign substances and bacteria can enter the body and trigger allergic and inflammatory diseases, which have been increasing rapidly in recent decades. The research suggests microplastics may be one of many environmental factors driving the rise in conditions like asthma, food allergies, and eczema.

2022 Allergy 371 citations
Article Tier 2

Epithelial Barrier Theory: The Role of Exposome, Microbiome, and Barrier Function in Allergic Diseases

This review presents the epithelial barrier theory, which proposes that damage to the body's protective barriers is a key driver of allergic diseases. Researchers identified numerous environmental factors including microplastics, nanoparticles, detergents, and processed food additives that can weaken epithelial barriers in the skin, lungs, and gut. The study suggests that the rising prevalence of allergies may be linked to increasing exposure to barrier-disrupting substances in our modern environment.

2023 Allergy Asthma and Immunology Research 40 citations
Article Tier 2

Intestinal permeability, food antigens and the microbiome: a multifaceted perspective

This review summarizes how a leaky gut barrier, caused by factors like Western diets, pollution, and infections, can trigger chronic diseases including celiac disease, food allergies, and irritable bowel syndrome. The gut lining, microbiome, and immune system all work together to maintain health, but environmental disruptions can throw this balance off. This is relevant to microplastics research because studies have shown that microplastic exposure can damage the gut barrier and alter the microbiome in similar ways.

2025 Frontiers in Allergy 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Skin, gut, and lung barrier: Physiological interface and target of intervention for preventing and treating allergic diseases

This review summarizes how the protective barriers of our skin, gut, and lungs can be damaged by environmental factors including microplastics, leading to allergic conditions like asthma, food allergies, and eczema. The authors explain that a person's genetics, microbiome, and environmental exposures all contribute to barrier breakdown, and they highlight current treatments as well as gaps in care for these increasingly common conditions.

2024 Allergy 54 citations
Article Tier 2

Beyond allergic progression: From molecules to microbes as barrier modulators in the gut-lung axis functionality

This review explores the epithelial barrier hypothesis, which proposes that dysfunction of gut and lung barriers can trigger allergic responses due to tolerance breakdown. Researchers examined how environmental factors including pollution, food additives, and microplastics can damage epithelial barriers and alter the gut-lung axis, while also discussing how dietary factors and the microbiome may modulate barrier integrity and allergic progression.

2023 Frontiers in Allergy 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Is There Evidence of Health Risks From Exposure to Micro- and Nanoplastics in Foods?

This review examines the evidence for health risks from micro- and nanoplastic exposure through food, noting that plastic particles can carry physical, chemical, and biological hazards. The study suggests that ingested plastics could contribute to inflammation, oxidative stress, and immune responses, and may even influence food allergy development by altering gut permeability and intestinal microbiome balance.

2022 Frontiers in Nutrition 40 citations
Article Tier 2

Oral exposure to nanoplastics and food allergy in mice fed a normal or high-fat diet

Researchers studied how oral exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics affects food allergy responses in mice fed either a normal or high-fat diet. They found that nanoplastics worsened allergic reactions to a food protein, particularly in mice on the high-fat diet, by increasing gut permeability and shifting immune responses. The study suggests that the combination of nanoplastic exposure and a Western-style diet may be contributing to the rising prevalence of food allergies.

2025 Chemosphere 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics on allergic airways and potential pathogenesis: a review

This review examines how microplastics, which can enter the body through breathing, eating, and skin contact, may affect allergic airway conditions. Researchers found evidence that microplastics can damage airway lining cells, disrupt the protective barrier of the respiratory tract, and trigger heightened airway reactivity. The study suggests that chronic microplastic exposure may worsen allergic airway inflammation, though more research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms involved.

2025 Environmental Geochemistry and Health 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental factors in epithelial barrier dysfunction

This review examines how environmental factors from the modern industrialized world -- including air pollution, detergents, nanoparticles, and microplastics -- damage the protective lining of the skin, gut, and airways. Researchers describe how these exposures degrade the proteins that hold barrier cells together, increasing permeability and triggering immune responses linked to allergies, asthma, and inflammatory conditions. The study presents an "epithelial barrier hypothesis" suggesting that widespread barrier dysfunction from environmental pollutants may be driving the rise of chronic inflammatory diseases.

2020 Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 347 citations
Article Tier 2

The Relationship Between Dietary Patterns and the Epidemiology of Food Allergy

This review explores why food allergies are increasing worldwide, particularly in urbanized societies, and how dietary patterns may play a role. The shift toward processed Western diets with less fiber appears to weaken the gut barrier and promote chronic inflammation, contributing to food allergy development. The authors note that environmental exposures including microplastics may also be significant factors, though more research is needed to determine their specific contribution.

2024 Allergy 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro(nano)plastics in food system: potential health impacts on human intestinal system.

This review assessed how micro(nano)plastics in the human food system reach the intestine and accumulate in the gut, summarizing evidence that they can alter intestinal barrier function, trigger inflammation, and disrupt the gut microbiome, with implications for long-term digestive health.

2024 Critical reviews in food science and nutrition
Article Tier 2

The Intestinal Barrier—Shielding the Body from Nano- and Microparticles in Our Diet

This review examined how the intestinal barrier protects the body from nano- and microparticles present in the human diet, including food additives and environmental pollutants. Researchers discussed how epithelial barrier function relates to particle uptake and the potential role of nano- and microparticles in inflammatory bowel conditions. The study suggests that while the intestinal barrier provides significant protection, its breakdown could increase vulnerability to dietary particle exposure.

2022 Metabolites 43 citations
Article Tier 2

Epithelial Barrier: Protector and Trigger of Allergic Disorders

This review explores the epithelial barrier hypothesis, which proposes that disruption of skin, lung, and gut epithelial barriers by environmental exposures such as microplastics and pollutants drives the rising incidence of allergic and inflammatory diseases.

2022 Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Research Advances on the Impact of Environmental Pollutants on Gut Microbiota

This review synthesizes evidence from animal models, human studies, and mechanistic experiments showing how microplastics, pesticides, and heavy metals each disrupt gut microbiota composition, reduce beneficial bacteria, and compromise intestinal barrier integrity and host health.

2025 Theoretical and Natural Science
Article Tier 2

Micro(nano)plastics and Their Potential Impact on Human Gut Health: A Narrative Review

This review summarizes research on how micro- and nanoplastics affect the gut, finding that they can damage the intestinal lining, trigger immune responses, and disrupt the balance of beneficial gut bacteria in both cell studies and animal models. Since humans are primarily exposed to microplastics through food and food packaging, understanding these gut effects is essential for assessing the true health risks of plastic pollution.

2024 Current Issues in Molecular Biology 62 citations
Article Tier 2

Dysregulation of the epithelial barrier by environmental and other exogenous factors

This review examines how environmental and industrial factors can damage the body's epithelial barriers, which serve as the first line of defense against external threats. Researchers found that exposure to agents linked to industrialization and urbanization, including microplastics and other pollutants, can disrupt these protective barriers and trigger immune responses. The study suggests that epithelial barrier dysfunction may play a key role in the increasing prevalence of allergic and inflammatory conditions.

2021 Contact Dermatitis 71 citations
Article Tier 2

The interconnection between environment, immune-nutrition and allergic disease

This review explores the connections between environmental factors, immune-nutrition, and the rising global prevalence of allergic diseases. The study discusses how climate change, air pollution, biodiversity loss, and environmental contaminants including microplastics contribute to immune dysregulation, and highlights the role of the microbiome and dietary factors in modulating allergic disease risk.

2026 Asia Pacific Allergy
Article Tier 2

The potential influence of food additives and contaminants on the gut microbiota: A comprehensive review

This comprehensive review examines how food additives and contaminants, including pesticides, heavy metals, microplastics, and antibiotics, affect the gut microbiota. Researchers found that these substances can disrupt the balance of gut microbes, leading to inflammation, gastrointestinal injury, and altered production of beneficial short-chain fatty acids. The study emphasizes the need for further research into the mechanisms by which dietary contaminants affect gut health and overall wellbeing.

2025 Food and Chemical Toxicology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Perturbation of gut microbiota plays an important role in micro/nanoplastics-induced gut barrier dysfunction

Researchers investigated how micro- and nanoplastics disrupt gut barrier function in mice, finding that different surface chemistries caused varying levels of damage. The study suggests that these plastic particles harm the gut by altering the gut microbiome, which then leads to inflammation and weakening of the intestinal barrier that normally keeps harmful substances out of the body.

2021 Nanoscale 198 citations
Review Tier 2

Immunotoxicity and intestinal effects of nano- and microplastics: a review of the literature

This review examines the evidence on how nano- and microplastics affect the immune system and intestinal health. The findings suggest that exposure to these particles can disrupt the gut microbiome and impair critical intestinal barrier functions, potentially contributing to the development of chronic inflammatory and immune conditions.

2020 Particle and Fibre Toxicology 658 citations
Article Tier 2

[Effect of microand nanoplastics on the gastrointestinal mucosa and intestinal microbiome].

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics entering through the food chain affect the gastrointestinal tract, finding evidence of disruption to gut mucosal integrity and intestinal microbiome composition, with implications for digestive health and systemic immune function.

2023 PubMed 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic: A potential threat to human and animal health by interfering with the intestinal barrier function and changing the intestinal microenvironment

This review summarizes current research on how microplastics disrupt the gut environment in both animals and humans, focusing on damage to the intestinal barrier. Studies show that microplastic exposure can cause oxidative damage, inflammation, destruction of the gut lining, thinning of the protective mucus layer, and disruption of beneficial gut bacteria. While direct human evidence is still limited, the growing body of animal research suggests that microplastics could pose a meaningful threat to intestinal health.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 225 citations