College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.
Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou 225009, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Apr 17;24(8):7382. doi: 10.3390/ijms24087382.
Microplastics have become a new type of environmental pollutant that can accumulate in various tissues and organs of the body and cause chronic damage. In this study, two different size polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs, 5 μm and 0.5 μm) exposure models were established in mice to investigate the effects of PS-MPs with different particle sizes on oxidative stress in the liver. The results showed that PS-MPs exposure caused a decrease in body weight and liver-to-body weight. The hematoxylin and eosin staining and transmission electron microscopy results showed that exposure to PS-MPs led to the disorganized cellular structure of liver tissue, nuclear crinkling, and mitochondrial vacuolation. The extent of damage in the 5 μm PS-MP exposure group was more extensive when compared with the other group. The evaluation of oxidative-stress-related indicators showed that PS-MPs exposure exacerbated oxidative stress in hepatocytes, especially in the 5 μm PS-MPs group. The expression of oxidative-stress-related proteins sirtuin 3(SIRT3) and superoxide dismutase (SOD2) was significantly reduced, and the reduction was more pronounced in the 5 μm PS-MPs group. In conclusion, PS-MPs exposure led to oxidative stress in mouse hepatocytes and caused more severe damage in the 5 μm PS-MPs group when compared with the 0.5 μm PS-MPs group.
微塑料已成为一种新型的环境污染物，可在体内各种组织和器官中积累，并造成慢性损伤。本研究构建了两种不同粒径聚苯乙烯微塑料（PS-MPs，5μm 和 0.5μm）暴露模型，以研究不同粒径 PS-MPs 对肝脏氧化应激的影响。结果表明，PS-MPs 暴露导致体重和肝体比降低。苏木精和伊红染色及透射电镜结果显示，PS-MPs 暴露导致肝组织细胞结构紊乱、核皱缩和线粒体空泡化，5μm PS-MP 暴露组的损伤程度比其他组更广泛。氧化应激相关指标评价结果显示，PS-MPs 暴露加剧了肝细胞的氧化应激，在 5μm PS-MPs 组尤为明显。氧化应激相关蛋白 SIRT3 和 SOD2 的表达明显降低，5μm PS-MPs 组降低更明显。综上所述，PS-MPs 暴露导致小鼠肝细胞发生氧化应激，且 5μm PS-MPs 组比 0.5μm PS-MPs 组造成的损伤更严重。
