We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Papers
61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Airway exposure to microplastics: Potential mechanisms from epithelial barrier damage to the development of allergic rhinitis
ClearMicroplastics in Allergic Rhinitis: Multimechanistic Drivers of Barrier Disruption and Immune Dysregulation
This review examines the multimechanistic pathways by which microplastics drive barrier disruption and immune dysregulation in allergic rhinitis, considering how physical and chemical properties of microplastic particles interact with nasal epithelial and immune function. The paper synthesizes emerging evidence on microplastics as a novel contributor to upper airway allergic disease.
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.
Progress in understanding the impact of microplastics on respiratory allergic diseases
This review synthesized evidence on how airborne microplastics may affect respiratory allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis and asthma. Researchers found that inhaled microplastics can compromise airway barriers by disrupting tight junctions, impairing mucus clearance, and weakening mucosal defenses. The study suggests that microplastic characteristics like polymer type, particle size, and surface chemistry influence how they initiate or worsen respiratory allergic responses.
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of allergic asthma
Researchers reviewed the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind allergic asthma, finding that rising exposure to environmental pollutants — including microplastics — likely contributes to the disease's increasing prevalence, as pollutants disrupt airway barrier integrity and trigger immune responses that lead to chronic airway inflammation.
The Impact of Microplastics on Allergy: Current Status and Future Research Directions
This study reviews current evidence on how microplastics may influence allergic responses, noting that microplastics can compromise epithelial barriers and promote type 2 inflammation associated with allergies. The authors emphasize an urgent need for research into dose-dependent immunotoxicological mechanisms to better understand the relationship between microplastic exposure and allergy development. The study calls for evidence-based policies to reduce microplastic exposure and its potential contribution to the growing allergy burden.
Confronting allergies: strategies for combating pollution and safeguarding our health
This review examined the growing body of evidence linking environmental pollutants, including airborne microplastics, to increasing rates of allergic reactions worldwide. Researchers found that air pollution and indoor contaminants can worsen respiratory allergies, while climate change intensifies seasonal allergy patterns. The study emphasizes the need for comprehensive action including government regulation and public awareness to reduce pollution-driven allergy risks.
Climate change and the epithelial barrier theory in allergic diseases: A One Health approach to a green environment
This review links climate change and increased environmental pollution to the weakening of epithelial barriers in the skin, gut, and lungs, contributing to the rise of allergic diseases worldwide. The paper specifically identifies microplastics alongside other pollutants as agents that damage epithelial barriers, suggesting a mechanism by which microplastic exposure could contribute to allergies and autoimmune conditions.
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.
Silent invaders: the role of MPs on epithelium inflammation and damage in airway diseases
This review examines how inhaled microplastics and nanoplastics interact with airway epithelial surfaces and trigger inflammatory, oxidative, and structural changes that may contribute to respiratory diseases. The study describes how these particles activate key inflammatory pathways such as NF-kB and PI3K/Akt/mTOR, potentially worsening conditions like asthma and COPD through enhanced barrier dysfunction, oxidative stress, and disrupted tissue repair.
Atmospheric microplastics: exposure, toxicity, and detrimental health effects
This review summarizes what is known about microplastics in the air, including their sources, how they travel, and their effects on human health when inhaled or swallowed. Airborne microplastics come from synthetic textiles, road dust, construction materials, and industrial processes, and can trigger inflammation and oxidative stress in the lungs and other organs. The authors conclude that atmospheric microplastics represent an underappreciated route of human exposure that deserves more research and regulation.
Detection of microplastics in patients with allergic rhinitis
In a study of 66 patients, researchers found significantly more microplastic particles in nasal wash samples from people with allergic rhinitis compared to healthy volunteers. The microplastics found were mostly fibers and fragments small enough to deposit in nasal passages during normal breathing. This is among the first studies to link airborne microplastic exposure in the nose to an allergic condition, suggesting inhaled microplastics may contribute to nasal inflammation.
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.
Risk factors for the prevalence and development of allergic diseases
This review synthesized evidence on risk factors for the development of allergic diseases, covering genetic predisposition, early-life microbial exposure, diet, air pollution, and emerging exposures including microplastics. The authors discuss how environmental changes have driven rising allergy prevalence and identify microplastics as a candidate contributing factor warranting further study.
Preliminary Study of Microplastic in Allergic Rhinitis
Researchers compared microplastic concentrations in the nasal cavities of patients with allergic rhinitis versus healthy individuals. They found significantly higher levels of microplastics in the noses of people with the allergic condition. This preliminary finding suggests a potential connection between microplastic exposure in the nasal passages and allergic airway conditions, though more research is needed to understand the relationship.
Respiratory Toxicity of Microplastics: Mechanisms, Clinical Outcomes, and Future Threats
This review examined the mechanisms by which inhaled airborne microplastics cause respiratory harm, including inflammation, oxidative stress, fibrosis, and impaired mucociliary clearance. The authors also discuss emerging evidence linking microplastic inhalation to worsening asthma, COPD, and potentially lung cancer.
Why is inhalation the most discriminative route of microplastics exposure?
This review examined why inhalation is the most discriminative route of microplastic exposure, highlighting differences between indoor and outdoor airborne microplastics and the unique vulnerability of the respiratory system to polymer-specific particle characteristics.
Airborne micro- and nanoplastics: emerging causes of respiratory diseases
This review examines growing evidence that tiny airborne plastic particles can enter the lungs and trigger or worsen respiratory diseases including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung inflammation. The smallest nanoplastics are especially concerning because they can penetrate deep into lung tissue and even enter the bloodstream, yet research on airborne plastic health effects significantly lags behind studies on waterborne exposure.
Detection of microplastics in human nasal mucosa
Microplastic particles were detected for the first time in human nasal mucosa samples, with polymer types and concentrations quantified, providing direct evidence that the upper respiratory tract is a site of microplastic deposition from inhaled air.
An emerging class of air pollutants: Potential effects of microplastics to respiratory human health?
This review explores the emerging concern that airborne microplastics can be inhaled by humans, potentially causing adverse effects on the respiratory system. Researchers compiled available data on the concentration, size, shape, and chemical composition of microplastic particles found in urban air. The findings suggest that airborne plastic debris represents a largely understudied class of air pollutant with potential implications for human health.
Co-exposure to polyethylene microplastics and house dust mites aggravates airway epithelial barrier dysfunction and airway inflammation via CXCL1 signaling pathway in a mouse model
In a mouse model of asthma, co-exposure to inhaled polyethylene microplastics and house dust mite allergens caused worse airway inflammation than either pollutant alone. The microplastics damaged the airway lining and amplified allergic reactions through a specific inflammatory signaling pathway called CXCL1. This finding suggests that breathing in airborne microplastics could make allergies and asthma worse by helping allergens penetrate deeper into the lungs.
Airborne microplastics: Consequences to human health?
Researchers reviewed existing evidence on airborne microplastics and their potential effects on human respiratory health. Studies of workers exposed to plastic fibers and particles have documented airway inflammation and breathing difficulties, suggesting that susceptible individuals may face health risks even from environmental concentrations. The paper calls for greater awareness and future research into the health consequences of inhaling microplastic particles.
Allergic Sensitization to Inhalant Allergens in the Upper Respiratory Tract—the B Cell Side
This review examines how B cells contribute to allergic sensitization in the upper respiratory tract, focusing on their role in producing allergen-specific IgE antibodies. Among the environmental factors discussed, researchers note that microplastics can disrupt epithelial barrier integrity and modulate immune activation, potentially facilitating allergic sensitization. The study highlights that environmental pollutants including microplastics may be contributing to the global rise in allergic diseases by compromising respiratory defenses.
Airborne microplastics: a Trojan horse for respiratory dysfunction and multiorgan damage
This review examined evidence on airborne microplastics as a route of human exposure, focusing on how inhaled particles may affect respiratory function and potentially reach other organs. The study suggests that microplastics can act as carriers for other pollutants and pathogens, and that inhalation exposure warrants greater research attention alongside the more commonly studied ingestion pathway.
Human Responsive Biomarkers of Airborne Microplastics Exposure: Evaluation and Analysis for Health and Environment
This research review looked at 14 studies to understand how tiny plastic particles in the air affect human health by measuring specific markers in our blood and lungs. The studies found that breathing in microplastics causes inflammation in our airways and lungs, similar to what happens with asthma, by triggering the body's immune response. This matters because it helps scientists develop better ways to detect early health problems from plastic pollution and create guidelines to protect people from these invisible particles we breathe every day.