The role of lycopene in alleviating nanoplastic-induced liver inflammation and steatosis: Insights from gut microbiota remodeling

Nanoplastics (NPs) are emerging pollutants that are widespread in food and drinking water and present a serious danger to the health of animals and humans. Therefore, it is increasingly important to dissect their targeted toxicity mechanism and explore how to mitigate their damaging effects on the organism. Lycopene (LYC)possesses anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and lipid metabolism– and intestinal microbiota–regulating properties. The research sought to assess the defensive properties of LYC in preventing liver lipid metabolism disorder in mice induced by chronic exposure to nanoparticles. The results indicated that LYC treatment significantly decreased the accumulation of tissue NPs, promoted the excretion of fecal NPs, remodeled intestinal flora, alleviated intestinal injury, decreased circulating lipopolysaccharide production, inhibited the liver TLR4/NF-κB pathway, and ultimately attenuated NPs-induced liver inflammation and steatosis in mice. Interestingly, ablation of the gut microbiota by antibiotic treatment reversed, to some extent, the protective effects of LYC on the NPs-induced disturbances in liver function and lipid metabolism. The fecal transplantation experiment showed that the mice transplanted with microbiota from the NPs + LYC mice had similar phenotypes to those of donor mice, including alleviated liver injury and lipid metabolism disorder. In conclusion, LYC treatment ameliorates liver damage and lipid metabolism disorder caused by NPs, possibly through the modulation of the gut microbiota/liver TLR4/NF-κB signaling axis. This supports LYC as a potential dietary therapy for treating liver steatosis caused by NPs. [Display omitted] •LYC promotes faecal NPs excretion and reduces tissue accumulation, altering NPs toxicity.•LYC alleviates NPs-induced gut barrier dysfunction, fat mass gain and liver steatosis.•LYC remodeled the composition of gut microbiota and reversed microbiota dysbiosis.•LYC inhibited NPs-induced liver inflammation by decreasing LPS levels and inhibiting the TLR4/NF-κB pathway.•LYC attenuated NPs-induced liver steatosis, depending on the gut microbiota.