Endogenous immune defenses provide an intrinsic barrier against external entity invasion. Microplastics in the environment, especially those at the nanoscale (nanoplastics or NPs), may pose latent health risks through direct exposure. While links between nanoplastics and inflammatory processes have been established, detailed insights into how they may perturb the innate immune mechanisms remain uncharted. Employing murine and macrophage (RAW264.7) cellular models subjected to polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs), our investigative approach encompassed an array of techniques: Cell Counting Kit-8 assays, flow cytometric analysis, acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) fluorescence staining, cell transfection, cell cycle scrutiny, genetic manipulation, messenger RNA expression profiling via quantitative real-time PCR, and protein expression evaluation through western blotting. The results showed that PS-NPs caused RAW264.7 cell apoptosis, leading to cell cycle arrest, and activated the cGAS-STING pathway. This resulted in NF-κB signaling activation and increased pro-inflammatory mediator expression. Importantly, PS-NPs-induced activation of NF-κB and its downstream inflammatory cascade were markedly diminished after the silencing of the STING gene. Our findings highlight the critical role of the cGAS-STING pathway in the immunotoxic effects induced by PS-NPs. We outline a new mechanism whereby nanoplastics may trigger dysregulated innate immune and inflammatory responses via the cGAS/STING pathway.

Purposes: To explore the optimization method and application of Au-NP-enhanced luminol––H₂O₂ luminescence system in TORCH (TOX, RV, CMV, HSVI, and HSVII) detection. Method: 4.5 × 10⁻⁵ mmol/L gold nano solution was prepared with chloroauric acid as the reducing agent and trisodium citrate as the stabilizer. After curing for 3 days, Au NPs participate in the luminal–H₂O₂ luminescence system to detect TORCH antibodies and establish the cut off value. SPSS 18.0 software was used to analyze the TORCH antibodies detected by the nano-gold-enhanced luminol luminescence method and TORCH kit. Additionally, its detection performance is studied. Results: The results of a paired t-test for the absorbance values of samples with and without gold nanoparticles showed that there were statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) between the two methods in the detection of TOX, RV, CMV, HSVI, and HSVII. The luminescence values with the addition of gold nanoparticles were significantly higher than those without gold nanoparticles. Using the Au NP–luminol–H₂O₂ chemiluminescence method, 127 serum samples were tested for TORCH antibodies. The sensitivities were 84.6%, 83.3%, 90.9%, 85.7%, and 84.6%, while the specificities were 94.7%, 96.5%, 96.6%, 97.3%, and 95.6%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the chemiluminescence method enhanced by gold nanoparticles are significantly improved compared to the chemiluminescence method without enhancers. Conclusions: Au NPs participate in the luminal–H₂O₂ luminescent system. The absorbance, sensitivity, and specificity of TORCH antibodies show that Au NPs can enhance the luminol–H₂O₂ luminescent system. Au NP–luminol–H₂O₂ luminescence system has broad application prospects in the detection of eugenics.