Figure 4.

Effects of MNPs on the digestive system and gut microbiota. MNPs determine alterations of gut microbiota, increasing pathogenic bacteria and decreasing beneficial bacterial content, impair bone marrow function inhibiting HGPRT/Wnt pathway and decreasing hematopoietic stem cells function, induce colonic inflammation increasing oxidative stress and inflammatory proteins expression and reducing mucin 2 and IL-1β levels, trigger hepatic inflammation and fibrosis via activation of cGAS/STING/NF-kB pathway and upregulating NLRP3, ASC and lipid peroxidation. HGPRT - hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase; IL - Interleukin; TLR - Toll-like receptor; AP-1 - activator protein; IRF - interferon regulatory factor; cGAS - cyclic GMP-AMP synthase; STING - Stimulator of interferon genes; NF - nuclear factor; NLRP - NOD-like receptor protein 3; ASC - apoptosis associated speck-like protein.