The toxicity of nano polyethylene terephthalate to mice: Intestinal obstruction, growth retardant, gut microbiota dysbiosis and lipid metabolism disorders. (February 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lin, Xiaoying; Xie, Hongxin; Zhang, Yanfei; Tian, Xue; Cui, Liwei; Shi, Nianqiu; Wang, Liming; Zhao, Jiating; An, Lihui; Wang, Jing; Li, Bai; Li, Yu-Feng
• Is Part Of: Food and chemical toxicology. Volume 172(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-02
• Subjects: Nano-sized PET -- LD50 -- Mice -- Lipid metabolism -- Metabolism; Toxicology -- Periodicals; Food poisoning -- Periodicals; Food Poisoning -- Periodicals; Toxicology -- Periodicals; Toxicologie -- Périodiques; Intoxications alimentaires -- Périodiques; Food poisoning; Toxicology; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 615.9
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2022.113585
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0278-6915

Abstract

Abstract: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are widely used in our daily life while they may be broken to smaller fractions as nano-sized PET (nPET) in the environment. The toxicity of nPET is still less studied. This work first evaluated the LD50 of different size of nPET (200 nm, S-nPET; 700 nm, B-nPET) in mice, then studied the health effects of single exposure to S/B-nPET at 200 mg/kg bw for 30 days. It was found that the LD50 was 266 mg/kg bw for S-nPET and 523 mg/kg bw for B-nPET, respectively, showing a size-dependent effect. S-nPET caused weight loss, cyst, intestinal obstruction, organ damage and mortality (40%), and perturbed gut microbiome and metabolome especially lipid metabolism, such as upregulated cholesterol, glycocholic, propionic acid, niacinamide, ectoine and xanthine, and downregulated arachidonic acid, anserine, histamine, while B-nPET did not. Serological analysis found S-nPET brought more lipid metabolic immune and neurological damage than B-nPET, confirming the size-dependent effect. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the systematic toxicity of nPET to mice. Further studies are warranted for life-long effects of nPET. The protocol applied in this work may also be used for the study of the health effects of other plastics. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: The mean size was 200 nm for S-nPET and 700 nm for B-nPET. The LD50 was 266 mg/kg bw for S-nPET and 523 mg/kg bw for B-nPET. S-nPET at 200 mg/kg bw caused weight loss, cyst, and intestinal obstruction. S-nPET at 200 mg/kg bw perturbed gut microbiome. S-nPET brought more lipid metabolic, immune and neurological damage than B-nPET.