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. 2021 May 6;129(5):057003. doi: 10.1289/EHP7612

Figure 6.

Figure 6A is a set of two line graphs plotting body weight (gram), ranging from 22 to 30 in increments of 2 and 20 to 32 in increments of 2 (y-axis) across 4 weeks of oral gavage, ranging from 0 to 4 in unit increments and 8 weeks of oral gavage, ranging from 0 to 8 in unit increments (x-axis) for sham, 0.2 milligram per day Polystyrene microplastics, and 0.4 milligram per day Polystyrene microplastics. Figure 6B is a set of two clustered bar graph plotting Blood Urea Nitrogen (milligram per day), ranging from 0 to 50 in increments of 10 and Creatinine (milligram per day), ranging from 0.0 to 0.5 in unit increments (y-axis) across Polystyrene microplastics (milligram per milliliter) expressing sham, 0.2, and 0.4 (x-axis) for 4 weeks and 8 weeks, respectively. Figure 6C is a display of three columns, namely, sham, 0.2, and 0.4 (milligram per day) and two rows, namely, 4 weeks and 8 weeks. Figure 6D is a bar graph plotting tubular injury scores, ranging from 0.0 to 2.0 in increments of 0.5 (y-axis) across Polystyrene microplastics (milligram per milliliter) expressing sham, 0.2, and 0.4 (x-axis) for 4 wk and 8 wk. Figures 6E to 6G are each a display of three columns, namely, sham, 0.2, and 0.4 (milligram per day) and two rows, namely, 4 weeks and 8 weeks.

Body weights, blood biochemistry index values, H&E staining in kidney sections, tubulointerstitial injury, and IHC for ER stress-, inflammation-, and autophagy-related proteins in kidney sections for mice treated with PS-MPs. (A) The body weights of mice were measured after PS-MPs were administered with concentrations of 0.2 and 0.4mg/d for 4 and 8 wk. The data are presented as the means±SDs, n=5. The mean and SD summary data of (A) are shown in Table S3. (B) Blood biochemistry was analyzed via assessment of BUN and creatinine. The data are presented as the means±SDs. n=5. **p<0.01 and ***p<0.001 compared with sham group, as determined by two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test. Significance: BUN: no significant differences (Table S3); creatinine: 4 wk: sham group vs. 0.2-mg/d group: p=0.001, sham group vs. 0.4-mg/d group: p=0.0026; 8 wk: sham group vs. 0.2-mg/d group: p=0.0068, sham group vs. 0.4-mg/d group: p<0.05<0.001, 0.2-mg/d group vs. 0.4-mg/d group: p=0.0026. The mean and SD summary data of (B) are shown in Table S3. All p-values shown in Table S3. (C) H&E staining of representative kidney sections. Hematoxylin stained the cell nuclei blue, and eosin stained the extracellular matrix and cytoplasm pink. Scale bar: 30μm. The arrows indicate lesions. (D) Tubulointerstitial injury analyses in kidneys. The data are presented as the means±SDs. Twenty fields of view per kidney (5 mice per group). *p<0.05 and ***p<0.001 compared with sham group samples, as determined by two-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test. Significance: 4 wk: sham group vs. 0.2-mg/d group: p=0.0342, sham group vs. 0.4-mg/d group: p<0.001; and 8 wk; sham group vs. 0.2-mg/d group: p<0.001, sham group vs. 0.4-mg/d group: p<0.001. The mean and SD summary data of (D) are shown in Table S3. All p-values reported in Table S4. (E) IHC of IRE1α expressed in the kidney sections. Scale bar: 30μm. (F) IHC of COX-1 expressed in the kidney sections. Scale bar: 30μm. (G) IHC of LC3 expressed in the kidney sections. Scale bar: 30μm. n=2. The quantified IHC data were graphed and statistically analyzed, as shown in Table S5. Note: ANOVA, analysis of variance; BUN, blood urea nitrogen; COX-1, cyclooxygenase-1; CREA, creatinine; ER, endoplasmic reticulum; H&E, hematoxylin and eosin; IRE1α, inositol-requiring enzyme 1α; IHC, immunohistochemistry; PS-MPs, polystyrene microplastics; SD, standard deviation.