The continuous degradation of plastic waste in the environment leads to the generation of micro- and nanoplastic fragments and particles. Due to the ubiquitous presence of plastic particles in natural habitats as well as in food, beverages and tap water, oral exposure of the human population with plastic particles occurs worldwide. We investigated acute toxicological effects of polystyrene (PS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) micro- and nanoparticles in an advanced in vitro triple culture model (Caco-2/HT29-MTX-E12/THP-1) mimicking the healthy and inflamed human intestine to study the effect of inflammatory processes on plastic particle toxicity. We monitored barrier integrity, cytotoxicity, cell layer integrity, DNA damage, the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α) and mucus distribution after 24 h of particle exposure. In addition, we investigated cytotoxicity, DNA damage and IL-1β release in monocultures of the three cell lines. Amine-modified polystyrene nanoparticles (PS–NH₂) served as a positive control for particle-induced toxicity. No acute effects in the investigated endpoints were observed in the model of the healthy intestine after PS or PVC exposure. However, during active inflammatory processes, exposure to PVC particles was found to augment the release of IL-1β and to cause a loss of epithelial cells. Our results suggest that prevalent intestinal inflammation might be an important factor to consider when assessing the hazard of ingested micro- and nanoplastic particles.

塑料废物在环境中的持续降解导致产生微米和纳米塑料碎片和颗粒。由于在自然栖息地以及在食品，饮料和自来水中普遍存在塑料颗粒，因此在全世界范围内人们对塑料颗粒进行口服接触。我们研究了先进的体外聚苯乙烯（PS）和聚氯乙烯（PVC）微粒和纳米颗粒的急性毒理作用模仿健康和发炎的人类肠道的三重培养模型（Caco-2 / HT29-MTX-E12 / THP-1），以研究炎症过程对塑料颗粒毒性的影响。我们在暴露24小时后监测屏障完整性，细胞毒性，细胞层完整性，DNA损伤，促炎性细胞因子（IL-1β，IL-6，IL-8和TNF-α）的释放以及黏液分布。此外，我们研究了三种细胞系单培养中的细胞毒性，DNA损伤和IL-1β释放。胺改性的聚苯乙烯纳米颗粒（PS–NH ₂）作为颗粒诱导毒性的阳性对照。PS或PVC暴露后，在健康肠道模型中未观察到研究终点的急性影响。然而，在活跃的炎症过程中，发现暴露于PVC颗粒会增加IL-1β的释放并导致上皮细胞的丢失。我们的研究结果表明，普遍的肠道炎症可能是评估摄入微塑料和纳米塑料颗粒危害的重要因素。