Young people are consuming large amounts of microplastics (MPs) due to the booming development of the take-out industry. To investigate the association between MPs exposure and obesity, 121 volunteers were divided into high MPs exposure (HME) and low MPs exposure (LME) according to the frequency of take-out food consumption. Fecal samples were collected for MPs detection using Raman spectra analysis, and identification of the gut microbiota was based on 16 S rDNA/ITS, while metabolite analysis was performed by LC-MS/MS. High levels of MPs and body mass index (BMI) were observed in the HME group (P < 0.05). Both the multiple linear regression (MLR) model and the binary logistic regression (BLR) (OR: 1.264, 95 % CI: 1.108–1.441, P < 0.001) analysis showed a positive correlation between MPs content and BMI. Microbial community analysis revealed that Veillonella, Alistipes and Dothideomycotes (pathogenic fungi) increased in HME participants, whereas Faecalibacterium and Coprococcus decreased. Meanwhile, analysis of stool metabolites showed that vancomycin resistance, selenocompound metabolism and drug metabolism pathways were enhanced in HME participants. These findings indicate that frequent consumption of take-out food may elevate the intake of microplastics, consequently modifying the gut microbiota and metabolites of young adults, and could represent a potential risk factor for obesity.

中文翻译：

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外卖食品会增加 MP 摄入和肥胖的风险，从而改变年轻人的肠道微生物组


由于外卖行业的蓬勃发展，年轻人正在消耗大量的微塑料（MP）。为了调查 MPs 暴露与肥胖之间的关联，121 名志愿者根据外卖食品消费频率分为高 MPs 暴露（HME）和低 MPs 暴露（LME）组。收集粪便样本，使用拉曼光谱分析进行MPs检测，并基于16S rDNA/ITS对肠道微生物群进行鉴定，同时通过LC-MS/MS进行代谢物分析。 HME 组的 MP 和体重指数 (BMI) 水平较高 (P < 0.05)。多元线性回归（MLR）模型和二元逻辑回归（BLR）（OR：1.264，95％CI：1.108-1.441，P％3C 0.001）分析均显示MPs含量与BMI之间呈正相关。微生物群落分析显示，HME 参与者中韦荣球菌属、Alistipes 和 Dothideomycotes（致病真菌）增加，而粪杆菌和粪球菌减少。同时，粪便代谢物分析显示，HME 参与者的万古霉素耐药性、硒化合物代谢和药物代谢途径均增强。这些发现表明，经常食用外卖食品可能会增加微塑料的摄入量，从而改变年轻人的肠道微生物群和代谢物，并可能成为肥胖的潜在危险因素。