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Biological Consequences of Microplastic Exposure in Zebrafish (Danio rerio): A Systematic Review Across Developmental, Physiological, and Neurobehavioral Endpoints
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This review pulls together 60 studies on zebrafish (a common lab fish used to study health effects) exposed to microplastics, finding that these tiny plastic particles can harm development, damage organs, disrupt hormones, and alter behavior—with "aged" or weathered microplastics (the kind more common in real-world pollution) often causing more harm than fresh ones. While zebrafish aren't humans, they share enough biology with us that these findings raise real concerns about how the microplastics we're increasingly exposed to through food, water, and air might affect our own health, especially since scientists still need to standardize how they test microplastic exposure
Microplastics (MPs) are widespread pollutants in aquatic environments, but their impacts throughout the life cycle remains of organisms are still not well understood. This systematic review integrates recent experimental results on the developmental, physiological, and neurobehavioral effects of MPs exposure on zebrafish (Danio rerio), a popular model organism for ecotoxicology research. A PRISMA-guided search using Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus as databases generated 371 articles, which was screened to 60 eligible articles. The collated results showed that MP toxicity strongly related to concentration, size, and extent of weathering or aging at various life stages of zebrafish. For developmental toxicity, a concentration-dependent yielded peer-reviewed publications assessing specific MPs properties, such as polymer identity, size, concentration, shape, and aging status. At various life stages, the toxicity of MPs was most affected by concentration, size, and aging. The developmental toxicity showed a concentration-dependent decrease in the rate of hatching, growth inhibition, and cardiac dysfunction, while, an increase in malformations, especially at concentrations of ≥100 µg/L or ≥10 mg/L has been reported. Non-monotonic and threshold effects have also been observed, the complexity of particle-based versus mass-based concentrations. Weathered and photo-aged MPs were found to exhibit higher embryotoxicity and neurodevelopmental toxicity, including changes in gene expression of neurons, decreased integrity of motor neurons, and impaired retinal development, compared with virgin MPs. Furthermore, physiological endpoints showed that oxidative imbalance was a key mechanistic process, which included changes in the activity of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, GPx), lipid peroxidation, inflammation, and disruption of tight junctions. Chronic MP exposures caused changes in the gut microbiota, hepatic metabolism, endocrine disruption, reproductive damage, thyroid function disruption, and genotoxicity in zebrafish. Neurobehavioral alterations, such as changes in locomotor activity, anxiety response, neurotransmitter homeostasis, and acetylcholinesterase function, occurred in both larvae and adults, with a potentiation effect in aged MP exposure. Previous, experimental data have also shown that zebrafish are very sensitive to MPs exposure in various biological systems, with toxicity being a function of physicochemical properties and exposure conditions. Finally, this review found major limitations for inter-study comparisons because of inconsistencies and differences in methodology related to MP concentration, simulation of MP aging, and MP dose measurements.
More Papers Like This
Biological Impacts of Microplastic Exposure in Zebrafish (Danio rerio): A Systematic Review Across Developmental, Physiological, and Neurobehavioral Endpoints
AI summary Read the abstract
This review pulls together 60 studies on how microplastics affect zebrafish, a small fish scientists use to model human biology, and finds that higher doses, especially of "weathered" microplastics broken down by sun and water, cause more harm to growth, organ development, brain function, and behavior. While this research is in fish, it matters for us too since zebrafish share key biological systems with humans, and these findings suggest that the tiny plastic particles now found in our water, food, and even our bodies could potentially disrupt similar processes. That said, scientists note more consistent research methods are needed before we can say exactly how this translates to human health risks.
Advances of microplastics ingestion on the morphological and behavioral conditions of model zebrafish: A review
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This review summarizes research on how microplastic ingestion affects zebrafish, a popular lab animal that shares genetic similarities with humans. Studies show that microplastics cause a range of harmful effects in zebrafish, including abnormal behavior, oxidative stress, immune disruption, and reproductive problems, with smaller particles and higher concentrations causing the most damage. Since zebrafish are used as a model for human health, these findings raise concerns about what similar exposure levels could mean for people.
Danio rerio as a Model Animal for Assessing Microplastic Toxicity
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This review examines the use of zebrafish as a model organism for assessing microplastic toxicity, summarizing experimental findings across polymer types and sizes showing that microplastic exposure induces epithelial damage, lipid metabolism disruption, reproductive impairment, and neurobehavioral alterations, and discussing the strengths and limitations of Danio rerio for microplastic hazard assessment.
Behavioral Studies of Zebrafish Reveal a New Perspective on the Reproductive Toxicity of Micro- and Nanoplastics
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This review summarizes existing research on how micro- and nanoplastics affect the behavior and reproductive health of zebrafish, a common lab model for studying human biology. The findings suggest that tiny plastic particles can disrupt reproductive behavior and act as hormone-like chemicals, and that behavioral changes in fish may serve as early warning signs of reproductive harm that could be relevant to understanding human health risks.
Research progress of model animal zebrafish in toxicity evaluation of microplastics
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This review examines the use of zebrafish as a model organism for evaluating the toxicity of microplastics, synthesizing research on how microplastic exposure affects development, reproduction, and physiological function in this well-established vertebrate model. The authors highlight zebrafish as a particularly valuable system for mechanistic toxicology studies given its genetic tractability and the breadth of endpoints assessable across life stages.
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