NMPA Key Laboratory for Safety Evaluation of Cosmetics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China.
Food Safety and Health Research Center, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China.
Food Chem Toxicol. 2023 Sep;179:113984. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2023.113984. Epub 2023 Aug 9.
Microplastic and nanoplastic (MNP) pollution has become a major global food safety concern. MNPs can interact with food matrices, and their passage through the gastrointestinal tract can modify their properties. To explore whether and how food matrices influence MNP toxicity, we investigated the interactions between polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) and food matrices, using an in vitro gastrointestinal digestion model. Then, we tested cell viability, particle uptake and cellular toxicities induced by PS-NPs with food matrices in Caco-2 cells. The results showed that PS-NPs were aggregated, both with and without food matrices, after in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. Glyceryl trioleate exerted greater ability to stabilize digestas and to disperse PS-NPs than starch and bovine serum albumin. The protein corona's protein composition on PS-NPs varied when it interacted with different food matrices. Moreover, when combined with food matrices, the PS-NPs' uptake was enhanced, thus aggravating cellular inflammation, stress, and apoptosis levels. Finally, through co-exposure to a mixture of food matrices, we found a combined negative effect of PS-NPs and cadmium on cellular inflammation, stress, and apoptosis levels. This is the first study to compare the impact of various food matrices on the characteristics and cellular toxicities of ingested NPs in a simulated digestive tract.
微塑料和纳米塑料（MNP）污染已成为全球主要的食品安全问题。MNPs 可以与食物基质相互作用，并且它们通过胃肠道的传递可以改变其性质。为了探讨食物基质是否以及如何影响 MNP 毒性，我们使用体外胃肠道消化模型研究了聚苯乙烯纳米塑料（PS-NPs）与食物基质之间的相互作用。然后，我们在 Caco-2 细胞中测试了 PS-NPs 与食物基质共同作用时对细胞活力、颗粒摄取和细胞毒性的影响。结果表明，体外胃肠道消化后，PS-NPs 与食物基质均发生聚集。甘三油酸酯比淀粉和牛血清白蛋白更能稳定消化液并分散 PS-NPs。PS-NPs 与不同食物基质相互作用时，其蛋白冠的蛋白组成也发生变化。此外，当与食物基质结合时，PS-NPs 的摄取增加，从而加重细胞炎症、应激和细胞凋亡水平。最后，通过同时暴露于混合食物基质中，我们发现 PS-NPs 和镉对细胞炎症、应激和细胞凋亡水平的联合负面效应。这是首次在模拟消化道中比较不同食物基质对摄入的 NPs 特性和细胞毒性的影响的研究。
