Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40400549›Full record

ArticleEnvironment & health (Washington, D.C.)2025

Dust Fall Microplastics from a Megacity of China Inhibit Autophagy via the PI3K/Akt/mTOR Pathway.

Yajing Ma, Jinjin Yu, Jian Sun, Yuantong Zhu, Xuan Li, Xinyao Liu, Xinya Zhang, Lingyi Liu, Lingli Li, Jiaer Yang and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environment & health (Washington, D.C.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Yajing MaSchool of Pharmacy, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0048-6811
Jinjin YuSchool of Pharmacy, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
Jian SunDepartment of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
Yuantong ZhuChina Energy Engineering Group Shaanxi Electric Power Design Institute Co., Ltd., Xi'an 710054, China.
Xuan LiXi'an Ecology and Environment Bureau, Xi'an Environmental Monitoring Station, Xi'an 710054, China.
Xinyao LiuSchool of Pharmacy, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
Xinya ZhangSchool of Pharmacy, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
Lingyi LiuSchool of Pharmacy, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
Lingli LiSchool of Pharmacy, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
Jiaer YangDepartment of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
Weifeng LiSchool of Pharmacy, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
Kin-Fai HoThe Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, Hong Kong, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7464-3437
Zhenxing ShenDepartment of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1294-1751
Xiaofeng NiuSchool of Pharmacy, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8851-5938

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The problem of microplastics (MPs) pollution has caused many health risks to residents of Chinese cities. In this study, nine kinds of MPs or microrubbers (MRs) from dust fall (DF) in Xi'an, a megacity in northwestern China, were measured by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy, namely, polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon 88, polybutylene, polytetrafluorethylene, polyisoprene, polyvinyl chloride, natural rubber, and synthesis rubber. Here, 51.20% of MPs were extracted from the original DF (samples denoted DF-O). After the subtracting procedure, MPs and their residual (DF-S samples) were divided into two parts. Our results indicated that the DF-O and MPs samples exhibited higher cytotoxicity, inflammatory, and oxidative stress levels than the DF-S samples did. The DF-O and MPs samples suppressed autophagy by decreasing expression levels of microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3B), p-phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (p-PI3K), phosphorylated AKT protein (p-Akt), and p-mammalian target of rapamycin (p-mTOR) while increasing the level of p62. Meanwhile, DF-O and MPs samples induced apoptosis through increasing levels of Bax/Bcl-2 and Cleaved Caspase-3/Caspase-3 in Raw264.7 cells. These trends could be reversed through removing half of the MPs in DF-O. Therefore, dust fall microplastics inhibited autophagy and induced apoptosis via activating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, increasing the Bax/Bcl-2 and Cleaved Caspase-3/Caspase-3 ratios. Here we provide a comprehensive perspective into the studies of atmospheric MPs pollution status and mechanisms of inhalation toxicity for health risk assessment of MPs in DF.

Identifiers

PMID40400549
PMCPMC12090011

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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 Socratic graph.