Toxicity enhancement of microplastics released from food containers through thermal aging: Absorbing more serum proteins thus activating the innate immune response via actin polymerization

IF 10.3 1区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environment International Pub Date : 2025-03-01 DOI:10.1016/j.envint.2025.109358

Fang Du , Meiqian Hou , Song Lu , Xiaotian Ding , Ling Zhang , Yajie Du , Zhen An , Wenwen Cai , Leicheng Zhao , Weidong Wu , Zhiguo Cao

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Abstract

This study examined the effects of hot high-fat simulants on the physicochemical properties of microplastics (MPs) from polypropylene (PP)-, low-density polyethylene (LDPE)-, and polylactic acid (PLA)-based single-use food container (SUFC) leachates and those of aging on their immunomodulatory effectors. Scenario studies have demonstrated that MPs were released from these three types of SUFCs. LDPE- and PLA-based SUFCs also released cellulose. Among the SUFCs, only the PP leachates particles exhibited a new absorption peak at 1725 cm⁻¹, which aging phenomenon may be attributed to the presence of unstable tertiary carbon atoms. Subsequently, we investigated the immunomodulatory effects of removing additive both PP and thermal-aged PP with polystyrene (PS) and carboxyl-modified PS (PS-COOH) polymer backbones as reference materials. The findings indicated that thermal-aged PP and PS-COOH induced comparable innate immune responses, with PS-COOH particles exhibiting a similar size to SUFC percolates. Consequently, PS and PS-COOH were selected as original and thermal-aged MPs, respectively, to evaluate the effects of aging on innate immunity. The results revealed that a protein corona formed on both particle types, with more protein adsorption observed on PS-COOH particles. The complex enhanced the phagocytosis of RAW264.7 macrophages and increased the expression of pro-inflammatory genes NOS2 and TNF-α through an actin polymerization cross-linking mechanism. In this study, we investigated how thermal-aged MPs affect innate immune responses using PS-COOH as a model system, emphasizing the importance of a comprehensive safety evaluations of MPs.

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通过热老化从食品容器中释放的微塑料毒性增强：通过肌动蛋白聚合吸收更多血清蛋白从而激活先天免疫反应

本研究考察了高温高脂肪模拟剂对聚丙烯(PP)-、低密度聚乙烯(LDPE)-和聚乳酸（PLA）基一次性食品容器（SUFC）渗滤液中微塑料（MPs）理化性质的影响，以及老化对其免疫调节效应的影响。情景研究表明，MPs从这三种类型的sufc中释放出来。LDPE和pla基sufc也释放纤维素。在sufc中，只有PP渗滤液颗粒在1725 cm−1处出现了新的吸收峰，其老化现象可能是由于不稳定叔碳原子的存在。随后，我们以聚苯乙烯（PS）和羧基改性PS （PS- cooh）聚合物骨架为对照材料，研究了去除添加剂PP和热老化PP的免疫调节作用。研究结果表明，热老化的PP和PS-COOH诱导的先天免疫反应相似，PS-COOH颗粒的大小与SUFC渗滤液相似。因此，我们选择PS和PS- cooh分别作为原始MPs和热老化MPs，来评估衰老对先天免疫的影响。结果表明，两种类型的颗粒均形成蛋白冠，PS-COOH颗粒对蛋白质的吸附更多。该复合物通过肌动蛋白聚合交联机制增强RAW264.7巨噬细胞的吞噬能力，增加促炎基因NOS2和TNF-α的表达。在本研究中，我们使用PS-COOH作为模型系统研究热老化MPs如何影响先天免疫反应，强调对MPs进行综合安全性评估的重要性。

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来源期刊

Environment International 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

21.90

自引率

3.40%

发文量

734

审稿时长

2.8 months

期刊介绍： Environmental Health publishes manuscripts focusing on critical aspects of environmental and occupational medicine, including studies in toxicology and epidemiology, to illuminate the human health implications of exposure to environmental hazards. The journal adopts an open-access model and practices open peer review. It caters to scientists and practitioners across all environmental science domains, directly or indirectly impacting human health and well-being. With a commitment to enhancing the prevention of environmentally-related health risks, Environmental Health serves as a public health journal for the community and scientists engaged in matters of public health significance concerning the environment.