The abundance of plastic debris in the environment is a growing threat to all organisms. Particularly problematic are micro- and nanoplastic particles. With this master's thesis we wanted to review studies on the immune response upon exposure of invertebrates to plastic particles. The articles, published in database ScienceDirect, were searched for key information on the type of model organism, the properties of the particles used, the chemicals added, the concentration of the particles and the exposure time. The analysis distinguished between general and immune responses, which were measured in haemolymph or directly on haemocytes. Only the latter were included in the further analysis. Cellular immune parameters and expression of immunity-related genes were analysed separately. The most frequently changed parameters were: decreased phagocytotic activity, viability, density of total haemocytes and LMS, while the concentration of ROS in haemocytes, genotoxicity and lysozyme activity increased. Among the most studied genes, changes in expression levels were observed for the lysozyme, mytillin B and catalase genes. The most commonly altered expression is in genes related to apoptosis, antimicrobial peptide action and recognition and signalling functions. Due to the predominant use of PS plastic particles, the immune response to exposure to polystyrene was analysed separately. The analysis showed no significant deviations from the conclusions of the exposure analysis for all possible types of plastic particles. We conclude that the immune response of the organisms is independent of the type and other properties of the plastic particles. The immune response is also independent of the concentration of particles, as the analysis showed no possible correlation. However it can certainly be argued that exposure of organisms to plastic particles triggers an immune response. Future studies should also focus on the impact of exposure of organisms to nanoplastics, as much is still unknown in this area.
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