Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Sep 22, 2026; 17(3): 122786
Published online Sep 22, 2026. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.122786
Published online Sep 22, 2026. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.122786
Microplastics and nanoplastics in inflammatory bowel disease: Mechanistic plausibility, human evidence and future research priorities
Richard Hall, Michael Colwill, Kamal Patel, Sailish Honap, Andrew Poullis, Department of Gastroenterology, St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London SW17 0QT, United Kingdom
Michael Colwill, Andrew Poullis, Institute of Infection and Immunity, City St George’s, Uni
Sailish Honap, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King’s College London, London WC2R 2 LS, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Hall R performed the literature review and drafted the original manuscript; Hall R, Colwill M, Patel K, Honap S, and Poullis A contributed to manuscript review and editing; Colwill M, Honap S, and Poullis A supervised the project; Poullis A conceptualized the review. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: During the preparation of this work the authors used ChatGPT 5.2 to proofread the manuscript for typographical errors and formatting inconsistencies only. The authors manually reviewed and verified al AI assisted outputs and take full responsibility for the scientific content of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Hall R has received honoraria from Takeda. Colwill M has served as a speaker, served on advisory boards, or received grants from Pfizer, Celltrion, Ferring, Johnson & Johnson, and Dr Falk Pharma. Patel K has received honoraria for educational meetings and speaker fees from AbbVie, Janssen, Takeda, Dr Falk Pharma, PredictImmune, Pfizer, and Ferring; advisory board fees from AbbVie, Galapagos, Pfizer, and Janssen; and grant support from AbbVie. Honap S has served as a speaker, consultant, or advisory board member, or received grants from Pfizer, Janssen, AbbVie, Takeda, Alfasigma, Ferring, Lilly, Pharmacosmos, and the Banook Group. Poullis A declares no conflicts of interest.
Corresponding author: Richard Hall, BSc, MBBS, Research Fellow, Department of Gastroen
Received: April 28, 2026
Revised: June 3, 2026
Accepted: June 24, 2026
Published online: September 22, 2026
Processing time: 133 Days and 18.1 Hours
Revised: June 3, 2026
Accepted: June 24, 2026
Published online: September 22, 2026
Processing time: 133 Days and 18.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Microplastics and nanoplastics are emerging as ubiquitous environmental contaminants of potential relevance in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Experimental evidence suggests that intestinal exposure may promote dysbiosis, mucus barrier disruption, epithelial permeability and immune activation, all pathways implicated in IBD pathogenesis. Current evidence supports biological plausibility but is limited to simplified preclinical models and small observational human studies. Prospective human studies are needed to investigate whether micro- and nanoplastics may contribute to IBD onset, activity or progression.