A gut-liver-on-a-chip to study the transport, uptake and damage of microplastics
October 2024
Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, China(1)
Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, China(2)
Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, China(2)
Microplastics (MPs) are widespread pollutants that can enter the human gastrointestinal tract through food and water, ultimately accumulating in the liver. To investigate the effects of MPs on the gut-liver axis, researchers developed a gut-liver-on-a-chip (GLOC) that mimics intestinal peristalsis and dynamic liver flow. This innovative platform offers significant advantages over conventional co-culture systems by replicating essential physical microenvironments found in the intestines and liver, as well as physiological characteristics such as the intestinal barrier and liver metabolism. In their study, researchers infused polyethylene MPs, measuring 100 nm in diameter, into the GLOC. They found that as intestinal peristalsis increased, the transport rate of MPs decreased, leading to a corresponding reduction in oxidative stress and damage in hepatic cells. These findings clarify the transport of MPs in the intestine and their uptake in the liver after oral ingestion, highlighting the protective role of intestinal peristalsis and presenting a novel platform for assessing the organ-specific effects of MPs.
Revealing transport, uptake and damage of polystyrene microplastics using a gut-liver-on-a-chip
Li Wang(1), Xinyu Li(2)
Added on: 12-03-2024
[1] https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2024/lc/d4lc00578c
