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Advances in ecotoxicological research using planarians: a comprehensive review
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Scientists use tiny flatworms called planarians—famous for their ability to regrow body parts—to study how pollutants like pesticides, microplastics, and heavy metals damage living tissue. This review of existing research found that many different pollutants cause the same underlying problem: they trigger cellular stress that disrupts the worms' repair systems, which can impair healing, behavior, and reproduction. One particularly concerning finding is that microplastics can act like a "Trojan horse," carrying harmful metals into the body more easily—a reminder that combined pollution exposure (as we experience in everyday life) may be riskier than expos
Planarians, distinguished by their extraordinary regenerative capacity and ecological role as benthic predators, have emerged as a transformative model in ecotoxicology. This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of research on the effects of diverse classes of pollutants, including metals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, nanomaterials, and a dedicated category of "other pollutants," namely biotoxins and physical stressors, on these organisms. We introduce a novel conceptual framework of "regenerative toxicology," which focuses on how contaminants impair an organism's innate self-repair mechanisms. Our analysis reveals a convergent toxicity pattern: despite differing initial targets, most pollutants induced oxidative stress, which triggered cellular responses, including apoptosis, ultimately disrupting neoblast function and leading to failures in regeneration, behavior, and reproduction. A key advancement of this study is its emphasis on ecological realism and complex exposure scenarios. We critically evaluate the sensitivity of planarians to real-world environmental samples and highlight the significant implications of combined toxicity, such as the "Trojan horse" effect, in which microplastics increase the bioavailability of co-pollutants such as metals. This review further integrates methodological innovations, from multi-endpoint behavioral assays to multi-omics and AI-driven predictive modelling, while underscoring the urgent need for standardization in culture and testing methods. By bridging molecular mechanisms with individual and potential population-level outcomes, the planarian model offers a unique, cost-effective platform for assessing the sublethal and long-term hazards of environmental pollution. This review establishes planarians as an indispensable tool for elucidating the consequences of contaminants on tissue homeostasis and ecosystem health, thereby informing more robust environmental risk assessments.
More Papers Like This
How threatened planarians can be when ingesting contaminated prey with microplastics?
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Planarian flatworms — a freshwater species with remarkable regeneration abilities — were exposed to microplastic-contaminated prey to study whether microplastics transfer through the food chain and affect these predators. The study found that trophic transfer of microplastics to planarians was possible and caused stress responses, including effects on their regenerative capacity. The findings are relevant because trophic transfer is one of the main ways microplastics spread through food webs in freshwater ecosystems.
Dynamics of interaction and effects of microplastics on planarian tissue regeneration and cellular homeostasis
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Microplastic exposure in freshwater planarians disrupted their tissue regeneration capacity and cellular homeostasis, with effects worsening at higher concentrations. Planarians are valued model organisms for studying regeneration, and these findings suggest microplastics can impair fundamental biological repair processes in aquatic invertebrates.
The Effects of Microplastics and Acetaminophen on Regeneration in the Planarian Dugesia
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Researchers exposed planarian flatworms to microplastics and acetaminophen to assess effects on nervous system regeneration, observing slowed blastema formation and increased premature death in microplastic-treated worms, suggesting both pollutants impair regenerative capacity in a widely used model organism for neurotoxicology.
Eco-toxicological Impact of Polypropylene Microplastics on the Earthworm Lampito mauritii: Effects on Growth and Vital Biomarkers
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Scientists found that polypropylene microplastics, a common plastic used in packaging and textiles, harm earthworms by reducing their body weight, reproduction, and causing cell stress at high exposure levels. Since earthworms are vital for healthy soil that grows our food, this suggests plastic pollution could quietly damage the ecosystems we depend on for agriculture.
Behavioral and physiological responses of Girardia tigrina exposed to polyethylene microplastics
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Researchers exposed freshwater flatworms (planaria) to polyethylene microplastics and observed changes in their behavior and physiological responses. The exposed organisms showed altered movement patterns and signs of stress. The study suggests that planaria could serve as a useful model organism for assessing the ecological risks of microplastic pollution in freshwater environments, particularly regarding effects on tissue regeneration.
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