Microplastics, the gut microbiome and ageing: mechanisms and intervention strategies

As a pervasive global environmental concern, micro- and nanoplastic (MNPs) pollution leads to widespread systemic human exposure via three main routes: oral ingestion, inhalation, and dermal absorption. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that MNPs are strongly associated with ageing and age-related pathologies, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders. Meanwhile, the gut microbiome, an intensely studied regulatory mediator, plays a critical role in modulating human ageing. This review systematically summarizes the routes of human exposure to MNPs and their mechanistic links to human ageing. It delineates the interplay among MNPs, the gut microbiome and human ageing, and elucidates how the MNPs-gut microbiome Axis drives oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, cellular senescence, and mitochondrial dysfunction, disrupts epigenetic modulation, and activates core ageing-related pathways such as TLR4/NF-κB, ultimately exacerbating systemic inflammation and organ dysfunction. Furthermore, this review proposes multi-pronged intervention strategies, providing a scientific basis for mitigating MNPs pollution and its associated health risks, and offering novel theoretical insights for the development of anti-ageing interventions.