{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T23:26:38Z","timestamp":1782861998836,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":61,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,25]],"date-time":"2026-05-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779667200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pharmacol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Polystyrene nanoplastics (NPs) represent emerging environmental contaminants with potential adverse effects on salivary glands. This study investigated the protective effects of multi-strain probiotics against NPs-induced toxicity in rat parotid glands.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were allocated into five groups (n = 8): control, NPs (10\u00a0mg\/kg), probiotics (10\n                      <jats:sup>10<\/jats:sup>\n                      \u00a0CFU), NPs + probiotics low dose (10\n                      <jats:sup>9<\/jats:sup>\n                      \u00a0CFU), and NPs + Pro high dose (10\n                      <jats:sup>10<\/jats:sup>\n                      \u00a0CFU). Treatments were administered orally for 35 days. Oxidative stress markers, histopathological changes, and protein expression were evaluated.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>NPs exposure significantly increased MDA levels (p &amp;lt; 0.05) and decreased SOD activity and GSH content (p &amp;lt; 0.05). Histopathological examination revealed moderate to severe acinar degeneration (++) and fibrosis (++) in NPs-treated animals. Western blot analysis showed significant downregulation of Bcl-2 (p &amp;lt; 0.01), HO-1 (p &amp;lt; 0.0001), NRF2 (p &amp;lt; 0.01), and AQP5 (p &amp;lt; 0.0001), with upregulation of Caspase-3 (p &amp;lt; 0.0001), NF-\u03baB (p &amp;lt; 0.001), IL-1\u03b2 (p &amp;lt; 0.001), and TNF-\u03b1 (p &amp;lt; 0.001). Probiotic supplementation significantly ameliorated oxidative stress (p &amp;lt; 0.05), reduced histopathological damage to mild changes (+), and restored beneficial protein expression while suppressing inflammatory markers (p &amp;lt; 0.01-0.001).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study provides the first evidence that NPs induce significant oxidative stress and tissue damage in parotid glands. Multi-strain probiotics provide substantial protection by activating the NRF2\/HO-1 pathway and suppressing inflammation, suggesting a promising therapeutic strategy against nanoplastic-induced oral tissue damage.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fphar.2026.1824052","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,25]],"date-time":"2026-05-25T06:04:29Z","timestamp":1779689069000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Protective effects of multi-strain probiotics against polystyrene nanoplastic-induced parotid gland toxicity: role of NRF2\/HO-1 and NF-\u03baB pathways"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"G\u00fcnay","family":"Kozan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ear, Nose Throat, Faculty of Medicine, Dicle University","place":["Diyarbak\u0131r, T\u00fcrkiye"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hilal","family":"\u00dcst\u00fcnda\u011f","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Erzincan Binali Y\u0131ld\u0131r\u0131m University","place":["Erzincan, T\u00fcrkiye"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adem","family":"Kara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science, Erzurum Technical University","place":["Erzurum, T\u00fcrkiye"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"H839","DOI":"10.1152\/ajpheart.00278.2021","article-title":"Lactobacillus plantarum probiotic induces Nrf2-mediated antioxidant signaling and eNOS expression resulting in improvement of myocardial diastolic function","volume":"321","author":"Aboulgheit","year":"2021","journal-title":"Am. 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