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Microplastics, nanoplastics and liver disease: an emerging health concern?
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Researchers reviewed emerging evidence that microplastics and nanoplastics accumulate in human liver tissue at increasing concentrations over the past decade, trigger oxidative stress, fibrogenesis, and inflammation in cell and animal models, and may carry microbial pathogens and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, introducing the concept of plastic-induced liver injury as a new focus for environmental hepatology.
Human liver tissue has been found to contain microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs), with evidence that hepatic MNP accumulation has markedly increased over the past 10 years, prompting critical questions regarding their potential causal role in liver disease. In cell-based and murine models, MNP exposure can trigger oxidative stress, fibrogenesis and inflammation, pathological features that resemble those of advanced liver disease, suggesting shared mechanistic pathways. Furthermore, the capacity for MNPs to act as vectors for microbial pathogens, antimicrobial resistance, endocrine-disrupting chemicals and carcinogenic additives might have important implications for liver pathology. This Perspective examines emerging evidence on the consequences of MNPs for liver health and disease, introducing the concept of plastic-induced liver injury. By highlighting critical methodological bottlenecks, key knowledge gaps and unmet research priorities, it lays out a road map for the emerging field of environmental hepatology.
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Microplastics and nanoplastics: Emerging drivers of hepatic pathogenesis and metabolic dysfunction
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This review examines emerging evidence linking micro- and nanoplastic exposure to liver disease, including metabolic dysfunction-associated liver disease, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. Researchers found that these particles may contribute to liver damage through oxidative stress, inflammation, and disruption of metabolic pathways. The study highlights the need for further research into how environmental plastic contamination may be influencing the rising rates of liver disease worldwide.
Impact of microplastics and nanoplastics on liver health: Current understanding and future research directions
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This review summarizes what scientists know about how micro- and nanoplastics affect the liver, which is one of the first organs exposed because it processes everything absorbed from the gut. The particles trigger oxidative stress, disrupt energy metabolism, cause cell death, and promote inflammation, and may contribute to conditions like fatty liver disease and liver fibrosis. The paper also highlights how plastics can disturb the gut microbiome, which communicates with the liver through the gut-liver axis and may amplify liver damage.
Environmental microplastics and liver health: Brief review on human exposure and accumulation, hepatotoxicity mechanism, and intervention strategies
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This review links human exposure to microplastics, their accumulation in the liver and proposed mechanisms of liver toxicity, including oxidative stress, inflammation and cell death. Most of the evidence comes from cell, animal and organoid studies. It also discusses candidate interventions that are still at the research stage.
Hepatotoxic Mechanisms of Micro- and Nanoplastics in Animal Models: A Scoping Review with Human Health Implications
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This scoping review examines hepatotoxic mechanisms of micro- and nanoplastics in animal models, identifying oxidative stress, inflammation, lipid peroxidation, and epigenetic alterations as the primary pathways through which plastic particles damage liver tissue.
The mechanistic nexus between microplastics and chronic liver disease: A review of current evidence
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Researchers reviewed the mechanisms by which microplastics accumulate in liver tissue and worsen chronic liver disease, finding that MPs activate cell death pathways, trigger oxidative stress and inflammation, promote fibrosis, and disrupt metabolic and microbial regulation — and can amplify damage from co-occurring hepatotoxic substances.
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