Impact of Micro- and Nanoplastics and Protective Dietary Nutrients for Human Health

Dear Colleagues,

The environmental impact of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) has dramatically increased, representing a major global concern in virtue of their persistence and bodily accumulation. Recently, dietary nutrients have gained considerable attention for enhancing resilience to MNPs and overall human health. Dietary nutrients including food extracts, polyphenols, and more bioavailable polyphenol-combined nanoparticles, as well as vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids, have been shown to improve the permeability of the blood–brain barrier (BBB), intestinal epithelial barrier (IEB), and blood retinal barrier (BRB) and ultimately brain function, thus inhibiting apoptosis, inflammation, intestinal, and neuronal toxicity due to the presence of MNPs in various organs. Interestingly, dietary nutrients display biphasic dose–response effects by activating, at the minimum dose, anti-apoptotic pathways such as Bcl-2, tight junction proteins (e.g., claudins, occludins, and ZO‐1), the Nrf2 pathway, and antioxidant proteins (e.g., heme oxygenase-1 upregulated by curcumin and sirtuin-1 activated by resveratrol) to block reactive oxygen species (ROS) and restore barrier integrity. The impairment of tight junctions due to environmental pollutants and deregulation of Nrf2 signaling may exacerbate selective susceptibility under neuroinflammatory conditions to the onset and progression of metabolic and brain disorders such as diabetes, anxiety, depression, and autism as well as neurodegeneration due to the vulnerability of sensory neurons to apoptosis and oxidative stress. The Special Issue focuses on nutrition targeting several cellular and molecular pathways to block MNP-induced toxicity and regulate impaired tight junctions and epigenetic alterations and explores the underlying mechanisms using innovative in vitro and in vivo technologies for the development of promising protective strategies and personalized nutritional therapies in order to prevent or attenuate oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammation and, consequently, promote human health.

Dr. Angela Trovato Salinaro
Dr. Maria Concetta Scuto
Guest Editors

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• microplastics and nanoplastics

• cancer
• dietary nutrients
• inflammation
• apoptosis
• brain–blood barrier
• central nervous system disorders
• personalized nutritional therapy
• NFkB pathway
• innovative technologies