Pollutants of different origins and nature can have an impact on immunity. Alterations in immune responses caused by air and water pollutants can hamper human and environmental health, both in terms of inadequate reactivity (immunosuppression, increased susceptibility to infections and diseases) and in terms of excessive response (pathological inflammation, allergies, autoimmunity). Abundant information is available on the immune effects caused by a number of individual pollutants, based mainly on experimental
in vitro and
in vivo models in which animals or cells are exposed to individual pollutants. However, much less is known regarding the more realistic circumstance of exposure to a combination of pollutants, in which the combined exposure may have effects substantially different from the sum of individual effects. Indeed, contaminants, e.g., carryover chemicals from synthesis or plasticizers added to microplastics, may be present even in "pure" preparations. Of particular interest is the combination of biotic and abiotic particulate agents (engineered nanoparticles, nano-, and microplastics, particulate matter in air, bacteria, viruses) with chemical pollutants (including molecules released by living organisms, such as allergens and bacterial components).
Immune reactions across living organisms, from plants to human beings, have the primary aim to eliminate possible dangers and to adapt to a change in the environment. It is important to gain an additional understanding of how immunity is influenced by pollutants. The goal of this Research Topic is to help fill gaps in our knowledge about the action of mixtures between pollutants on a variety of organisms, from plants to humans. The collection assembled here will thus shed light on the impact of combined exposure to nanoparticles and other biological or chemical pollutants on the immunity of humans and environmental species.
This Research Topic welcomes Original Research, Review, Perspective, and Opinion articles that consider the impact of combined exposure on the immunity of human beings and environmental species, focussing on (but not limited to) the following aspects:
• Changes in the physical-chemical characteristics of nano- and micro-particles upon interaction with chemical pollutants;
• Realistic biological models for assessing mixtures with respect to the immune effects of combination exposure;
• Correspondence between in vivo and in vitro assessment in terms of dose and effect (molecular endpoints vs. overall effects);
• Immune effects in plants;
• Immune effects in invertebrates;
• Immune effects in vertebrates and human beings (with effects on innate and adaptive immunity);
• Computational approaches to prediction of individual or combined exposure impacts on immune responses;
• Harmonisation of data generation and analysis for regulatory purposes.
Detailed information on the article types available can be found
here.