Immunodysregulatory potentials of polyethylene or polytetrafluorethylene microplastics to mice subacutely exposed via intragastric intubation

JiHun Jo; Manju Acharya; Pramod Bahadur K C; Anju Maharjan; DaEun Lee; Ravi Gautam; Jung-Taek Kwon; KilSoo Kim; ChangYul Kim; Yong Heo; HyoungAh Kim

doi:10.1007/s43188-023-00172-6

Immunodysregulatory potentials of polyethylene or polytetrafluorethylene microplastics to mice subacutely exposed via intragastric intubation

Toxicol Res. 2023 Apr 11;39(3):419-427. doi: 10.1007/s43188-023-00172-6. eCollection 2023 Jul.

Authors

JiHun Jo¹, Manju Acharya¹, Pramod Bahadur K C², Anju Maharjan¹, DaEun Lee¹, Ravi Gautam¹, Jung-Taek Kwon³, KilSoo Kim^{4

5}, ChangYul Kim², Yong Heo^{1

2}, HyoungAh Kim⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Occupational Health, College of Bio and Medical Sciences, Daegu Catholic University, Gyeongsan, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Toxicology, Graduate School of Daegu Catholic University, Gyeongsan, Republic of Korea.
³ Environmental Health Research Department, National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Preclinical Research Center, Daegu-Gyeongbuk Medical Innovation Foundation, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
⁵ College of Veterinary Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
⁶ Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 222 Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 06591 Republic of Korea.

PMID: 37398562
PMCID: PMC10313636 (available on 2024-07-01)
DOI: 10.1007/s43188-023-00172-6

Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) have been recently recognized as posing a risk to human health. The adverse health effects of MP exposure have been recently reported, especially via the oral exposure route. The present study investigated whether subacute (4 week) exposure to polyethylene (PE) or polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) MPs via gastric intubation caused immunotoxicity. Two different sizes of PE MPs (6.2 or 27.2 μm) and PTFE MPs (6.0 or 30.5 μm) were administered to 6-week-old mice of both sexes at 0 (corn oil vehicle control), 500, 1000, or 2000 mg/kg/day (n = 4/group). No significant differences were observed between groups in the major thymic or splenic immune cell populations, including thymic CD4⁺, CD8⁺, CD4⁺/CD8⁺ T lymphocytes, and splenic helper T cells, cytotoxic T cells, and B cells. The ratio of interferon-gamma (IFNγ) to interleukin-4 (IL-4) in culture supernatants from polyclonally activated splenic mononuclear cells ex vivo (48 h) was dose-dependently decreased in female mice that received small- and large-size PTFE MPs. The IFNγ/IL-4 ratio was also decreased in the female mice dosed with large-size PE MPs. The serum IgG2a/IgG1 ratio was dose-dependently increased in male and female animals dosed with small-size PE MPs, in female animals dosed with large-size PTFE MPs, and in male animals dosed with small-size PTFE MPs. The present study implies that immune functions could be affected in animals exposed to MPs via gastric intubation. These effects are dependent on MP size, MP dose, MP polymer type, and mouse sex. Further investigations with longer exposure periods could be necessary to more clearly define the immunotoxic effects of MPs.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43188-023-00172-6.

Keywords: Immunotoxicity; Microplastic toxicity; Polyethylene; Polytetrafluorethylene; Subacute intragastric administration.

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