Nanoplastics affect the inflammatory cytokine release by primary human monocytes and dendritic cells

  • So far, the human health impacts of nano- and microplastics are poorly understood. Thus, we investigated whether nanoplastics exposure induces inflammatory processes in primary human monocytes and monocyte-derived dendritic cells. We exposed these cells in vitro to nanoplastics of different shapes (irregular vs. spherical), sizes (50–310 nm and polydisperse mixtures) and polymer types (polystyrene; polymethyl methacrylate; polyvinyl chloride, PVC) using concentrations of 30–300 particles cell−1. Our results show that irregular PVC particles induce the strongest cytokine release of these nanoplastics. Irregular polystyrene triggered a significantly higher pro-inflammatory response compared to spherical nanoplastics. The contribution of chemicals leaching from the particles was minor. The effects were concentration-dependent but varied markedly between cell donors. We conclude that nanoplastics exposure can provoke human immune cells to secrete cytokines as key initiators of inflammation. This response is specific to certain polymers (PVC) and particle shapes (fragments). Accordingly, nanoplastics cannot be considered one homogenous entity when assessing their health implications and the use of spherical polystyrene nanoplastics may underestimate their inflammatory effects.
Metadaten
Author:Annkatrin WeberGND, Anja SchwiebsORCiDGND, Helene Solhaug, Jørgen StenvikORCiD, Asbjørn M. Nilsen, Martin WagnerORCiDGND, Borna ReljaORCiDGND, Heinfried H. RadekeORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-784986
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107173
ISSN:0160-4120
Parent Title (English):Environment international
Publisher:Elsevier Science
Place of publication:Amsterdam [u.a.]
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2022/03/15
Date of first Publication:2022/03/15
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2024/05/13
Tag:Microplastic; Nanoplastic; Particle toxicity; Plastic pollution; Plastics
Volume:163
Issue:art. 107173
Article Number:107173
Page Number:11
First Page:1
Last Page:11
HeBIS-PPN:519157621
Institutes:Biowissenschaften
Medizin
Dewey Decimal Classification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie
6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - CC BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International