Effects of polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics on androgen- and estrogen receptor activity and steroidogenesis in vitro

Jeske van Boxel; Rani R J Khargi; Sandra M Nijmeijer; Manuel T Heinzelmann; Daniel Da Costa Pereira; Marja H Lamoree; Majorie B M van Duursen

doi:10.1016/j.tiv.2024.105938

Effects of polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics on androgen- and estrogen receptor activity and steroidogenesis in vitro

Toxicol In Vitro. 2024 Sep 5:101:105938. doi: 10.1016/j.tiv.2024.105938. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Jeske van Boxel¹, Rani R J Khargi², Sandra M Nijmeijer², Manuel T Heinzelmann³, Daniel Da Costa Pereira⁴, Marja H Lamoree³, Majorie B M van Duursen²

Affiliations

¹ Amsterdam Institute for Life and Environment, section Environmental Health and Toxicology, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Electronic address: j.van.boxel@vu.nl.
² Amsterdam Institute for Life and Environment, section Environmental Health and Toxicology, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
³ Amsterdam Institute for Life and Environment, section Chemistry for Environment and Health, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
⁴ Division of Molecular and Computational Toxicology, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

PMID: 39243830
DOI: 10.1016/j.tiv.2024.105938

Abstract

While many plastic additives show endocrine disrupting properties, this has not been studied for micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) particles despite their ubiquitous presence in humans. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of various sizes and concentrations of polystyrene (PS)-MNPs (50-10,000 nm, 0.01-100 μg/mL) on estrogen- and androgen receptor (ER and AR) activity and steroidogenesis in vitro. Fluorescent (F)PS-MNPs of ≤1000 nm were internalized in VM7 and H295R cells and FPS-MNPs ≤200 nm in AR-ecoscreen cells. H295R cells displayed the highest uptake and particles were closer to the nucleus than other cell types. None of the sizes and concentrations PS-MNPs tested affected ER or AR activity. In H295R cells, PS-MNPs caused some statistically significant changes in hormone levels, though these showed no apparent concentration or size-dependent patterns. Additionally, PS-MNPs caused a decrease in estriol (E3) with a maximum of 37.5 % (100 μg/mL, 50 nm) and an increase in gene expression of oxidative stress markers GPX1 (1.26-fold) and SOD1 (1.23-fold). Taken together, our data show limited endocrine-disrupting properties of PS-MNPs in vitro. Nevertheless the importance of E3 in the placenta warrants further studies in the potential effects of MNPs during pregnancy.

Keywords: Androgen receptor; Endocrine disruption; Estrogen receptor; Micro- and nanoplastics; Polystyrene; Steroidogenesis.