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Toxicological Effects of Micro and Nanoplastics and Role in Diseases

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Toxicology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2022) | Viewed by 3467

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Biology, Campus Regional de Excelencia Internacional “Campus Mare Nostrum”, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Interests: fish, immunology; virus, AMPs; toxicology; cell lines; vaccines; aquaculture; biotechnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Interests: fish viruses; nanoplastics; shellfish; fish; toxicology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Micro and nanoplastics are probably the most abundant nanomaterials in the environment. Although many studies are arising daily about their potential toxicological effects and mechanisms, very little is known about their impact on living organisms and how they impact on disease incidence or resistance. Thus, this Special Issue is devoted to studies dealing with exposure studies at in vitro, ex vivo or in vivo levels determining the impact of plastics on immunity, disease resistance or interactions with pathogens in any living system. The exposure could involve aquatic, air or land organisms, from unicellular to multicellular. Effects including, but not limited to, lymphocytes, dendritic cells, macrophages, neutrophils, antigen-presentation, cytokines, chemokines, immunoglobulins, complement, antimicrobial peptides, inflammation, phagocytosis or cell-mediated cytotoxicity of plastics are welcomed as well as the potential of plastic adsorption and dispersion of pathogens. Furthermore, their relation with different pathological situations such as nutritional or environmental distresses or even non-pathogenic diseases including Alzheimer's or cancer are of great interest. Any kind of study related to plastic toxicity regarding immunity or related to animal diseases, original or review, would be considered.

Dr. Alberto Cuesta
Dr. Carmen González-Fernández
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • microplastics
  • nanoplastics
  • immunity
  • immunotoxicology
  • infectious diseases
  • bacteria
  • viruses
  • parasites

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 1387 KiB  
Article
Nanoplastics Increase Fish Susceptibility to Nodavirus Infection and Reduce Antiviral Immune Responses
by Carmen González-Fernández and Alberto Cuesta
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(3), 1483; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms23031483 - 27 Jan 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2840
Abstract
Nanoplastics (NPs) might cause different negative effects on aquatic organisms at different biological levels, ranging from single cells to whole organisms, including cytotoxicity, reproduction, behavior or oxidative stress. However, the impact of NPs on disease resistance is almost unknown. The objective of this [...] Read more.
Nanoplastics (NPs) might cause different negative effects on aquatic organisms at different biological levels, ranging from single cells to whole organisms, including cytotoxicity, reproduction, behavior or oxidative stress. However, the impact of NPs on disease resistance is almost unknown. The objective of this study was to assess whether exposure to 50 nm functionalized polystyrene NPs impacts fish susceptibility to viral diseases both in vitro and in vivo. In particular, we focused on the nervous necrosis virus (NNV), which affects many fish species, producing viral encephalopathy and retinopathy (VER), and causes great economic losses in marine aquaculture. In vitro and in vivo approaches were used. A brain cell line (SaB-1) was exposed to 1 μg mL−1 of functionalized polystyrene NPs (PS-NH2, PS-COOH) and then infected with NNV. Viral titers were increased in NP-exposed cells whilst the transcription of inflammatory and antiviral markers was lowered when compared to those cells only infected with NNV. In addition, European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) juveniles were intraperitoneally injected with the same NPs and then challenged with NNV. Our results indicated that NPs increased the viral replication and clinical signs under which the fish died although the cumulate mortality was unaltered. Again, exposure to NPs produced a lowered inflammatory and antiviral response. Our results highlight that the presence of NPs might impact the infection process of NNV and fish resistance to the disease, posing an additional risk to marine organisms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toxicological Effects of Micro and Nanoplastics and Role in Diseases)
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