Polystyrene nano/microplastics induce microbiota dysbiosis, oxidative damage, and innate immune disruption in zebrafish.
Abstract
The toxicity of polystyrene nano/microplastics with diameter sizes of 50um and 100 nm and concentrations of 100 and 1000 μg/mL on gut microbiota, antioxidant activity and innate immune response in zebrafish was investigated. After exposure to polystyrene plastics particle, the pathological morphological changes of intestine and gills were observed, and the injury severity was related to the concentration and particle size of plastics. Significant changes in the richness and diversity of gut microbiota were observed after polystyrene plastics-exposed in zebrafish. The plastics-treated groups exhibited more substantial oxidative stress than the control group. In addition, the mRNA expression level of most pro- and anti-inflammatory factors, including IL-8, NF-κb, and IL-10, increased while the mRNA expression of TNF-α, a pro-inflammatory factor, decreased. Our results suggest that polystyrene nano/microplastics may represent a potential threat to the gut microbiota, oxidative status, and innate immunity. These results indicated that polystyrene nano/microplastics exerted size and concentration-dependent toxicity on zebrafish. The findings provide new evidence for the toxicity of polystyrene plastics on zebrafish.
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Extensive research has investigated the toxic effects of polystyrene nanoparticles on aquatic organisms, primarily focusing on oxidative stress and inflammation.
“Extensive research has investigated the toxic effects of polystyrene nanoparticles on aquatic organisms, primarily focusing on oxidative stress and inflammation (Feng et al., 2022; Pei et al., 2022; Wu et al., 2022).”
From Deciphering the toxic effects of polystyrene nanoparticles on erythropoiesis at single-cell resolution (2025) · cites this paper as Pei et al., 2022
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Solomando, A., Cohen-Sánchez, A., Box, A., Montero, I., Pinya, S., & Sureda, A. (2022) · Environmental Research · doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.113369 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
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“Extensive research has investigated the toxic effects of polystyrene nanoparticles on aquatic organisms, primarily focusing on oxidative stress and inflammation (Feng et al., 2022; Pei et al., 2022; Wu et al., 2022).”
- Authors
- Pei, X., Heng, X., & Chu, W.
- Affiliations
- China Pharmaceutical University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Chu, Weihua
- ORCID
- Chu, Weihua
- Venue
- Microbial Pathogenesis
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-02
- Volume
- 163
- Pages
- 105387
- ISSN
- 0882-4010 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4205942374
- Cited by
- 100
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 9
- FWCI
- 4.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Microbial Pathogenesis (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Aquaculture disease management and microbiota
- Keywords
- polystyrene, microplastics, nanoplastics, gut dysbiosis, oxidative stress, innate immunity, zebrafish, intestinal injury, inflammatory cytokines, NF-κB, TNF-α, IL-10, interleukin-8
- MeSH terms
- Microplastics, Animals, Immunity, Innate, Plastics, Polystyrenes, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Zebrafish, Oxidative Stress, Microbiota, Dysbiosis
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