In food toxicology, there is growing interest in studying the impacts of foodborne nanoparticles (NPs, originating from food additives, food supplements or food packaging) on the intestinal microbiome due to the important and complex physiological roles of these microbial communities in host health. Biocidal activities, as described over recent years for most inorganic and metal NPs, could favour chronic changes in the composition and/or metabolic activities of commensal bacteria (namely, intestinal dysbiosis) with consequences on immune functions. Reciprocally, direct interactions of NPs with the immune system (e.g., inflammatory responses, adjuvant or immunosuppressive properties) may in turn have effects on the gut microbiota. Many chronic diseases in humans are associated with alterations along the microbiota-immune system axis, such as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), metabolic disorders (e.g., obesity) or colorectal cancer (CRC). This raises the question of whether chronic dietary exposure to inorganic NPs may be viewed as a risk factor facilitating disease onset and/or progression. Deciphering the variety of effects along the microbiota-immune axis may aid the understanding of how daily exposure to inorganic NPs through various foodstuffs may potentially disturb the intricate dialogue between gut commensals and immunity, hence increasing the vulnerability of the host. In animal studies, dose levels and durations of oral treatment are key factors for mimicking exposure conditions to which humans are or may be exposed through the diet on a daily basis, and are needed for hazard identification and risk assessment of foodborne NPs. This review summarizes relevant studies to support the development of predictive toxicological models that account for the gut microbiota-immune axis. The literature indicates that, in addition to evoking immune dysfunctions in the gut, inorganic NPs exhibit a moderate to extensive impact on intestinal microbiota composition and activity, highlighting a recurrent signature that favours colonization of the intestine by pathobionts at the expense of beneficial bacterial strains, as observed in IBD, CRC and obesity. Considering the long-term exposure via food, the effects of NPs on the gut microbiome should be considered in human health risk assessment, especially when a nanomaterial exhibits antimicrobial properties.

中文翻译：

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食源性无机纳米颗粒对肠道微生物群-免疫轴的影响：对宿主健康的潜在后果。


在食品毒理学中，由于这些微生物群落在宿主健康中发挥着重要而复杂的生理作用，人们越来越有兴趣研究食源性纳米颗粒（NP，源自食品添加剂、食品补充剂或食品包装）对肠道微生物组的影响。近年来，大多数无机和金属纳米粒子的杀菌活性可能有利于共生细菌的组成和/或代谢活动的慢性变化（即肠道菌群失调），从而对免疫功能产生影响。相反，纳米颗粒与免疫系统的直接相互作用（例如炎症反应、佐剂或免疫抑制特性）可能反过来对肠道微生物群产生影响。人类的许多慢性疾病都与微生物群-免疫系统轴的改变有关，例如炎症性肠病（IBD）（克罗恩病和溃疡性结肠炎）、代谢性疾病（例如肥胖）或结直肠癌（CRC）。这就提出了一个问题：长期饮食接触无机纳米粒子是否可以被视为促进疾病发作和/或进展的危险因素。破译沿微生物群-免疫轴的各种影响可能有助于了解每天通过各种食物接触无机纳米颗粒可能会扰乱肠道共生体和免疫之间复杂的对话，从而增加宿主的脆弱性。在动物研究中，口服治疗的剂量水平和持续时间是模拟人类每天通过饮食接触或可能接触的暴露条件的关键因素，并且是食源性纳米粒子的危害识别和风险评估所需要的。 本综述总结了相关研究，以支持开发解释肠道微生物群-免疫轴的预测毒理学模型。文献表明，除了引起肠道免疫功能障碍外，无机纳米粒子还对肠道微生物群的组成和活性表现出中度至广泛的影响，强调了一种反复出现的特征，有利于病原体在肠道定植，而牺牲有益的细菌菌株。正如在炎症性肠病 (IBD)、结直肠癌 (CRC) 和肥胖症中所观察到的那样。考虑到通过食物的长期暴露，在人类健康风险评估中应考虑纳米粒子对肠道微生物组的影响，特别是当纳米材料表现出抗菌特性时。