The effects of polystyrene microplastics on human intestinal cells health and function

Recent studies have shown that microplastics (MP) have been detected in drinking water and drinking water resources. Their presence has raised significant public health concerns since oral exposure to MP may be more common than expected, yet our understanding of the potential adversarial effects of...

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Main Author: Ma, Yiyuan
Other Authors: Dalton Tay Chor Yong
Format: Thesis-Master by Research
Language:English
Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155072
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1550722022-03-06T05:18:17Z The effects of polystyrene microplastics on human intestinal cells health and function Ma, Yiyuan Dalton Tay Chor Yong School of Materials Science and Engineering Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI) cytay@ntu.edu.sg Engineering::Materials Recent studies have shown that microplastics (MP) have been detected in drinking water and drinking water resources. Their presence has raised significant public health concerns since oral exposure to MP may be more common than expected, yet our understanding of the potential adversarial effects of ingested MP is far from complete. While in vivo experiments have shown clues of weight loss, reduced feeding behaviour, and change of gene expression associated with glucose/lipid metabolism, direct evidence of digested MPs affecting nutrient uptake at the cellular level remains scant. In addition, previous research mostly used pristine MPs and cancer cell models, neglecting the biotransformation of MPs in the digestive system and the dissimilar metabolism of normal cells. Therefore, this study aims to perform a comprehensive evaluation of the effects of polystyrene MPs on human and cancer intestine cells. It is hypothesized that MPs may negatively impact cellular health and functions such as nutrient uptake. Polystyrene MPs of 0.1, 1 and 10 μm was used as the model MPs in our studies. To better appreciate the bio-accessibility of MPs, an in vitro digestive method was developed to simulate the physiological digestion process as the MPs passage through the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Our study revealed several major findings. First, it was found that the digested MPs (D-MPs) underwent considerable biotransformation such as the formation of protein corona and larger hydrodynamic size as compared to the undigested pristine MPs. Correspondingly, using particokinetics analysis, D-MPs was found to sediment much faster (the deposited fraction of 0.1 μm and 1 μm D-MPs was 6.7 and 1.2-fold of P-MPs after 48 h, respectively). Amongst the different types and sizes of MPs screened, the 0.1 μm D-MPs displayed higher tendency to form agglomerates than 1 μm D-MPs. Furthermore, several in vitro comparative studies were also performed to examine the MPs' acute and sub-chronic biological effects using the NCM460 (normal) and Caco-2 (cancer) cells. Our findings revealed a complex interplay between the physiochemical properties of MPs and pathological states of the cells in determining the biological outcomes. Master of Engineering 2022-02-07T05:40:39Z 2022-02-07T05:40:39Z 2022 Thesis-Master by Research Ma, Y. (2022). The effects of polystyrene microplastics on human intestinal cells health and function. Master's thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155072 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155072 10.32657/10356/155072 en This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). application/pdf Nanyang Technological University
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Engineering::Materials
spellingShingle Engineering::Materials
Ma, Yiyuan
The effects of polystyrene microplastics on human intestinal cells health and function
description Recent studies have shown that microplastics (MP) have been detected in drinking water and drinking water resources. Their presence has raised significant public health concerns since oral exposure to MP may be more common than expected, yet our understanding of the potential adversarial effects of ingested MP is far from complete. While in vivo experiments have shown clues of weight loss, reduced feeding behaviour, and change of gene expression associated with glucose/lipid metabolism, direct evidence of digested MPs affecting nutrient uptake at the cellular level remains scant. In addition, previous research mostly used pristine MPs and cancer cell models, neglecting the biotransformation of MPs in the digestive system and the dissimilar metabolism of normal cells. Therefore, this study aims to perform a comprehensive evaluation of the effects of polystyrene MPs on human and cancer intestine cells. It is hypothesized that MPs may negatively impact cellular health and functions such as nutrient uptake. Polystyrene MPs of 0.1, 1 and 10 μm was used as the model MPs in our studies. To better appreciate the bio-accessibility of MPs, an in vitro digestive method was developed to simulate the physiological digestion process as the MPs passage through the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Our study revealed several major findings. First, it was found that the digested MPs (D-MPs) underwent considerable biotransformation such as the formation of protein corona and larger hydrodynamic size as compared to the undigested pristine MPs. Correspondingly, using particokinetics analysis, D-MPs was found to sediment much faster (the deposited fraction of 0.1 μm and 1 μm D-MPs was 6.7 and 1.2-fold of P-MPs after 48 h, respectively). Amongst the different types and sizes of MPs screened, the 0.1 μm D-MPs displayed higher tendency to form agglomerates than 1 μm D-MPs. Furthermore, several in vitro comparative studies were also performed to examine the MPs' acute and sub-chronic biological effects using the NCM460 (normal) and Caco-2 (cancer) cells. Our findings revealed a complex interplay between the physiochemical properties of MPs and pathological states of the cells in determining the biological outcomes.
author2 Dalton Tay Chor Yong
author_facet Dalton Tay Chor Yong
Ma, Yiyuan
format Thesis-Master by Research
author Ma, Yiyuan
author_sort Ma, Yiyuan
title The effects of polystyrene microplastics on human intestinal cells health and function
title_short The effects of polystyrene microplastics on human intestinal cells health and function
title_full The effects of polystyrene microplastics on human intestinal cells health and function
title_fullStr The effects of polystyrene microplastics on human intestinal cells health and function
title_full_unstemmed The effects of polystyrene microplastics on human intestinal cells health and function
title_sort effects of polystyrene microplastics on human intestinal cells health and function
publisher Nanyang Technological University
publishDate 2022
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155072
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