Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Exploring the role of real food matrices on the behavior and toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics during digestion simulation

Researchers investigated how polystyrene nanoplastics behave and affect cells when consumed alongside real food, using milk as the test matrix, during simulated digestion. They found that food proteins and digestive enzymes formed a coating around the nanoplastics that changed their aggregation behavior and reduced their toxicity compared to nanoplastics alone. The study suggests that the presence of food during digestion may significantly alter how nanoplastics interact with the body, an important factor often overlooked in toxicity studies.

2025 NanoImpact 2 citations
Article Tier 2

The potential effects of in vitro digestion on the physicochemical and biological characteristics of polystyrene nanoplastics

Researchers studied how the human digestive process changes the physical and biological properties of polystyrene nanoplastics. They found that digestive fluids altered the surface characteristics of the particles, potentially affecting how they interact with gut cells. The study suggests that the form of nanoplastics that actually reaches our intestines may behave differently than the pristine particles typically used in lab studies.

2023 Environmental Pollution 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of the digestive process on intestinal toxicity of polystyrene microplastics as determined by in vitro Caco-2 models

Researchers studied how the human digestive process transforms polystyrene microplastics and affects their intestinal toxicity using in vitro Caco-2 cell models. The study found that digestion formed a corona on microplastic surfaces without altering their chemical composition, and that smaller particles (100 nm) showed higher toxicity than larger ones (5 micrometers) regardless of digestive treatment.

2020 Chemosphere 135 citations
Article Tier 2

Small polystyrene microplastics interfere with the breakdown of milk proteins during static in vitro simulated human gastric digestion

Researchers found that small polystyrene microplastics interfere with the digestion of milk proteins in a simulated human stomach environment. The microplastics adsorbed the digestive enzyme pepsin onto their surface, reducing its activity and slowing the breakdown of proteins like casein and whey. The study suggests that microplastic contamination in food could impair normal digestive processes in the human gut.

2023 Environmental Pollution 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of food matrices on the characteristics and cellular toxicities of ingested nanoplastics in a simulated digestive tract

Researchers investigated how different food components affect the toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics as they pass through a simulated human digestive system. They found that fat molecules helped stabilize and disperse the nanoplastics during digestion, increasing their uptake by intestinal cells and worsening cellular damage. The study suggests that the type of food consumed alongside nanoplastic-contaminated items could significantly influence how much harm the particles cause in the gut.

2023 Food and Chemical Toxicology 24 citations
Article Tier 2

The in vitro gastrointestinal digestion-associated protein corona of polystyrene nano- and microplastics increases their uptake by human THP-1-derived macrophages

When polystyrene nano- and microplastics pass through simulated gastrointestinal digestion, they acquire a coating of gut proteins — a 'protein corona' — that dramatically increases their uptake by human immune cells (macrophages), boosting internalization of small neutral particles by up to six-fold compared to undigested plastic. The identity of the proteins driving this effect, including clotting factors and apolipoproteins, suggests that realistic dietary exposure conditions substantially change how microplastics interact with the body, and that lab tests using undigested plastics likely underestimate actual cellular uptake.

2023 Research Square (Research Square)
Article Tier 2

Interactions between polystyrene nanoplastics and bovine lactoferrin in simulated gastric fluids: Aggregation kinetics and impact on protein digestion

This study investigated how polystyrene nanoplastics with different surface charges interact with bovine lactoferrin in simulated gastric conditions, affecting both particle aggregation and protein digestion. The findings show that nanoplastic-protein interactions in the stomach could alter the digestibility of dietary proteins, with implications for nutritional and gut health.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Effects of weathering and simulated gastric fluid exposure on cellular responses to polystyrene particles

Researchers studied the effects of weathering and simulated gastric fluid exposure on cellular responses to polystyrene particles. The study suggests that environmental weathering can alter how micro- and nanoplastics interact with biological systems, with potential implications for understanding human health effects from ingested plastic particles.

2024 Environmental Science Nano 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Digestion of Polystyrene Nanoparticles in a Whey Protein Drink. a Simulated in Vitro Gastrointestinal Digestion Using a Batch Infogest Model Combined with Cell Absorption Experiments

This study tracked polystyrene nano- and microplastic particles through a simulated digestive process mixed with a whey protein drink, then tested whether the particles could be absorbed by human intestinal cells. The work contributes to understanding how dietary microplastics survive digestion and whether they can pass through the gut lining into the body.

2022 CNR ExploRA
Article Tier 2

Cellular interactions with polystyrene nanoplastics—The role of particle size and protein corona

Researchers investigated how polystyrene nanoplastics interact with mammalian cells, finding that particle size and the protein corona that forms around particles in biological fluids strongly influence cellular uptake and toxicity. Smaller nanoplastics penetrated cell membranes more readily and caused greater disruption, suggesting that the tiniest plastic particles may pose the greatest biological risk.

2021 Biointerphases 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate, uptake and impact of fit-for-purpose nanoplastics on the digestive environment: an in vitro-in vivo continuum study

Researchers used fluorescently and gold-labeled polystyrene nanoplastics as models to study how these particles behave in the digestive environment and what effects they have on gut health. The study revealed that nanoplastics interact with the digestive system in ways that depend on particle labeling and surface properties.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Microplastics interactions and transformations during in vitro digestion with milk

This study simulated human digestion to see how microplastics change as they pass through the stomach and intestines, with and without milk. Microplastics digested with milk showed 15-25% more clumping due to milk proteins coating the plastic surfaces, and the digestive process caused chemicals to leach from the plastics. The findings suggest that microplastics in food may become more biologically active during digestion, potentially increasing their ability to interact with the body.

2024 Food Research International 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling the impact of polystyrene microplastics with varying particle sizes and concentrations on lipid in vitro digestion and ex vivo absorption

Researchers investigated how polystyrene microplastics of different sizes and concentrations affect fat digestion and absorption using laboratory and tissue-based models. They found that microplastics interfered with the digestive process by interacting with digestive enzymes and bile salts, and that smaller particles at higher concentrations had the greatest inhibitory effect on fat absorption. The findings suggest that microplastics consumed with food could alter how the body processes dietary fats.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 4 citations
Article Tier 2

The in vitro gastrointestinal digestion-associated protein corona of polystyrene nano- and microplastics increases their uptake by human THP-1-derived macrophages

When microplastics pass through the digestive system, stomach and intestinal proteins coat them in a layer called a "protein corona" that makes immune cells absorb the smallest particles up to six times more readily than undigested ones. This finding means that the body's own digestive process may actually increase how much microplastic gets taken up by immune cells, which is important for accurately assessing health risks from swallowed plastics.

2024 Particle and Fibre Toxicology 57 citations
Article Tier 2

Structure of soft and hard protein corona around polystyrene nanoplastics—Particle size and protein types

Researchers characterized the protein corona that forms around polystyrene nanoplastics of different sizes, finding that particle size influences which proteins bind and how tightly, with implications for nanoplastic toxicity and biological uptake.

2020 Biointerphases 62 citations
Article Tier 2

Aggregation kinetics of polystyrene nanoplastics in gastric environments: Effects of plastic properties, solution conditions, and gastric constituents

Researchers studied how polystyrene nanoplastics clump together (aggregate) inside simulated human stomach fluid under conditions mimicking fasting and different feeding states. They found that smaller particles aggregate faster, lower stomach pH accelerates clumping, and stomach proteins coat the plastic particles and dramatically change how they behave — findings that matter for understanding how nanoplastics travel through the human digestive system after ingestion.

2022 Environment International 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in our diet: complementary in vitro gut and epithelium models to understand their fate in the human digestive tract.

Researchers used complementary in vitro gut models to study how microplastics behave during human digestion, finding that digestive conditions alter microplastic surface properties and their interactions with gut cells. The work advances understanding of how ingested microplastics may affect the human digestive system.

2021 HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe)
Article Tier 2

Unravelling protein corona formation on pristine and leached microplastics

Researchers found that when microplastics encounter proteins in biological fluids, they get coated in a "protein corona" that depends heavily on the plastic's chemical additives, surface area, and how much it has been weathered in the environment. This coating changes how microplastics behave in the body, meaning toxicity studies need to account for these real-world surface changes.

2024 Microplastics and Nanoplastics 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Elucidating the Size‐Dependency of In Vitro Digested Polystyrene Microplastics on Human Intestinal Cells Health and Function

Polystyrene microplastics of different sizes were subjected to simulated in vitro digestion and then applied to human intestinal cells, with smaller particles causing greater disruption to cell health and barrier function than larger ones. The results suggest that the smallest microplastics reaching the human gut pose the greatest risk to intestinal integrity.

2022 Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of artificial digestion on characteristics and intestinal cellular effects of micro-, submicro- and nanoplastics

Researchers simulated human digestion to study how micro-, submicro-, and nanoplastics change as they pass through the stomach and intestines. They found that the digestive process altered the surface properties and size distribution of the plastic particles, potentially affecting how they interact with intestinal cells. The study suggests that the body's digestive environment may transform plastic particles in ways that influence their biological impact.

2023 Food and Chemical Toxicology 20 citations