Effects induced by polyethylene microplastics oral exposure on colon mucin release, inflammation, gut microflora composition and metabolism in mice

• Published in: Ecotoxicology and environmental safety 2021-09, Vol.220, p.112340-112340, Article 112340
• Main Authors: Sun, Hanqing, Chen, Na, Yang, Xiaona, Xia, Yankai, Wu, Di
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Colon; Gut microflora; Mice; Microplastics
• ISSN: 0147-6513; 1090-2414
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112340

Microplastics are plastic fragments widely distributed in the environment and accumulate in the organisms. However, the research on microplastics effects in mammals is limited. Polyethylene is the main kind of microplastics in the environment. We hypothesized that polyethylene exposure disrupts host intestine metabolism by modifying intestine microflora composition and then lipopolysaccharide (LPS) pathway. Female mice were orally exposed to 0, 0.002 and 0.2 μg/g/d polyethylene microplastics (PE MPs) for 30 days. Colon mucin density was quantized after AB-PAS staining. Mucin 2 (MUC2), inflammatory factors (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10), short-chain fatty acid receptors (GPR41 and GPR43), LPS receptors (TLR4 and MyD88) and LPS pathway downstream genes (ERK1 and NF-κB) mRNA levels in colon were measured. Feces were collected on the 15th day of exposure for gut microflora analysis. Blood biochemical analysis was performed. Results showed that 0.2 μg/g/d PE MPs exposure significantly decreased colon mucin expression (p