Investigating the role of micro and nanoplastics in instigating autoimmunity and inflammation

As stone and bronze use shaped their respective ages, the current uncurbed plastic use is shaping what historians have dubbed the “Plastic Age”. Plastic takes years to degrade and we are exposed to it through food ( absorbed via the gut), shedding of rubber on tyres (inhaled through the lungs) and many other environmental causes. The World Health Organisation (WHO) have made investigating the role of microplastics in human disease a priority. Plastic due to environmental stresses produces both macro and nano sized plastic particles (MNPs). MNPs have been found in atherosclerotic plaques in patients, within the human placenta, infant faeces, blood and urine. This indicates that MNPs enter the circulation cross intestinal barriers and reach immunopriviliged sites. This project will investigate the role of MNPs in activating immune cells and causing inflammation, the interaction with gut microbiota/leaky gut and the role it play's in perpetuating or exacerbating autoimmune kidney disease. We will utilise human blood cells and animal models of autoimmune kidney disease ANCA vasculitis, anti GBM disease and Lupus.