Microplastics, potential threat to patients with lung diseases

Kuo Lu; Danting Zhan; Yingying Fang; Lei Li; Guobing Chen; Shanze Chen; Lingwei Wang

doi:10.3389/ftox.2022.958414

Microplastics, potential threat to patients with lung diseases

Front Toxicol. 2022 Sep 28:4:958414. doi: 10.3389/ftox.2022.958414. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Kuo Lu¹, Danting Zhan¹, Yingying Fang¹, Lei Li², Guobing Chen^{1

3}, Shanze Chen¹, Lingwei Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ The Department of Respiratory Diseases and Critic Care Unit, Shenzhen Institute of Respiratory Disease, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University (Shenzhen People's Hospital), Post-Doctoral Scientific Research Station of Basic Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Behavior, CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Connectom aend Manipulation, The Brain Cogntion and Brain Disease Institute (BCBDI), Shenzhen Institutes of Adavnced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shnezhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen, China.
³ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Geriatric Immunology, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Air pollution is one of the major risk factors for lung disease. Microplastics are a ubiquitous environmental pollutant, both indoors and in outdoor air. Microplastics have also been found in human lung tissue and sputum. However, there is a paucity of information on the effects and mechanisms of microplastics on lung disease. In this mini-review, we reviewed the possible mechanisms by which air microplastics' exposure affects lung disease and, at the same time, pointed out the limitations of current studies.

Keywords: epithelial barrier dysfunction; inflammatory response; lung disease; microplastics; redox imbalance.

Publication types

Review