ArticleBiomolecules2021
Long-Term Effects of Polystyrene Nanoplastics in Human Intestinal Caco-2 Cells.
Article in Biomolecules, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 57 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
57 citing papers in PubMed, 140 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- The link between microplastics and colorectal cancer.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2026Review
- Review
- Co-exposure to polystyrene nanoparticles and tetrabromobisphenol A induces genotoxicity and interferes with intestinal barrier differentiation.Cell biology and toxicology · 2026Article
- Polystyrene Nanoplastics Induce Early Mitochondrial Dysfunction in H9c2 Cardiomyoblasts Without Substantial Cell Damage.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Effects of microplastics on the intestines.BMC gastroenterology · 2026Review
- Intestinal microplastic debris, flora dysbiosis, and insidious combined hazards across diverse aquatic and terrestrial organisms.Journal of advanced research · 2026Review
- Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus 2038 and Streptococcus thermophilus 1131 suppress polystyrene nanoplastic transcellular permeability and internalization by intestinal epithelial cells.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Pulmonary toxicity of polymethyl methacrylate nanoplastics via intratracheal intubation in mice.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Organ-specific apoptotic pathways induced by micro- and nanoplastics: a systematic review ofFrontiers in toxicology · 2026Review
- Higher abundance of micro- and nanoplastics in inflammatory tissues from patients with intestinal erosion.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Intestinal toxicity of functionalized polystyrene nanoplastics in NOD2 models of Crohn's disease susceptibility.Frontiers in toxicology · 2026Article
- Polystyrene nanoplastics impair mitochondrial function, quality control, and ER-mitochondria crosstalk in HeLa cells.Frontiers in toxicology · 2026Article
- Postbiotic sequestration of micro- and nanoplastics:Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Review
- Microplastics as emerging carcinogens: from environmental pollutants to oncogenic drivers.Molecular cancer · 2025Review
- Polystyrene microplastics are internalized by human gingival fibroblasts, enhance cell motility and induce molecular changes revealed through proteomic analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Current Approaches and Challenges in Advanced Oxidation Processes for Nanoplastic Degradation.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Review
- Exposure to polystyrene nanoparticles leads to dysfunction in DNA repair mechanisms in Caco-2 cells.Biological research · 2025Article
- Toxicity and absorption of polystyrene micro-nanoplastics in healthy and Crohn's disease human duodenum-chip models.Journal of hazardous materials · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The increasing presence of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPLs) in the environment, and their consequent accumulation in trophic niches, could pose a potential health threat to humans, especially due to their chronic ingestion. In vitro studies using human cells are considered pertinent approaches to determine potential health risks to humans. Nevertheless, most of such studies have been conducted using short exposure times and high concentrations. Since human exposure to MNPLs is supposed to be chronic, there is a lack of information regarding the potential in vitro MNPLs effects under chronic exposure conditions. To this aim, we assessed the accumulation and potential outcomes of polystyrene nanoparticles (PSNPs), as a model of MNPLs, in undifferentiated Caco-2 cells (as models of cell target in ingestion exposures) under a relevant long-term exposure scenario, consisting of eight weeks of exposure to sub-toxic PSNPs concentrations. In such exposure conditions, culture-media was changed every 2-3 days to maintain constant exposure. The different analyzed endpoints were cytotoxicity, dysregulation of stress-related genes, genotoxicity, oxidative DNA damage, and intracellular ROS levels. These are endpoints that showed to be sensitive enough in different studies. The obtained results attest that PSNPs accumulate in the cells through time, inducing changes at the ultrastructural and molecular levels. Nevertheless, minor changes in the different evaluated genotoxicity-related biomarkers were observed. This would indicate that no DNA damage or oxidative stress is observed in the human intestinal Caco-2 cells after long-term exposure to PSNPs. This is the first study dealing with the long-term effects of PSNPs on human cultured cells.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.