Abstract
BackgroundThe oral administration of polystyrene-microplastics (PS-MPs) causes chronic constipation of ICR mice, but there are no reports on their effects on the inflammatory response in the colon. To determine if the oral administration of MPs causes inflammation in the colon, the changes in the apoptosis-associated speck like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC)-inflammasome pathway, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) signaling pathway, and inflammatory cytokine expression were evaluated in the mid colon of ICR mice treated with 0.5 μm size PS-MPs for two weeks.ResultsThe thicknesses of the mucosa, muscle, flat luminal surface, and crypt layer were decreased significantly (p < 0.01) in the mid colon of the MPs treated group compared to the Vehicle treated group. On the other hand, a remarkable increase in the expression levels of NOD-like receptor pyrin domain-containing protein (NLRP) 3, ASC, and Cleaved Caspase (Cas)-1 protein was observed in the MPs treated group. In addition, similar increasing pattern in the levels of p-NF-κB and phospho-inhibitory subunit of NF-κB (p-IkB) α protein was detected. Four inflammatory cytokines, including NF-κB, interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and IL-1β, showed an increased expression level after the MPs treatment.ConclusionsTherefore, the present study suggests that PS-MPs can be a novel cause of an inflammatory response in the mid colon of ICR mice.
Highlights
The oral administration of polystyrene-microplastics (PS-MPs) causes chronic constipation of ICR mice, but there are no reports on their effects on the inflammatory response in the colon
This study examined whether PS-MPs administration can cause an inflammatory response in the mid colon of mice through an analysis of the histopathology, inflammasome proteins expression, Nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) signaling pathway activation, and cytokines expression
Effects of MPs administration on the a caspase recruitment domain (ASC)‐inflammasome pathway The altered expression levels of nucleotidebinding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3), Cleaved Cas-1/ Cas-1, and ASC were measured in the mid colon of MPs treated ICR mice to determine if the histological abnormality of the mid colon is linked to the ASC-inflammasome pathway
Summary
The oral administration of polystyrene-microplastics (PS-MPs) causes chronic constipation of ICR mice, but there are no reports on their effects on the inflammatory response in the colon. During response of the innate immunity, pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) are sensed by inflammasome, and their multimeric protein complex assembles as mature form that contain a nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor (NLR) protein as the main component [9, 10]. This includes the following four types; the NLRP3/NALP3 inflammasome [11], the NLRC4/IPAF inflammasome [12, 13], the NLRP1/NALP1b inflammasome [14], and the AIM2 (absent in melanoma 2) containing inflammasome [15, 16]. Inflammasomes have not received great attention for the inflammatory response of MPs until recently, alternative regulation of some cytokines was analyzed after MPs treatment [17]
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