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The Exposome and the Kidney: A Silent Dialogue Shaping Chronic Kidney Disease
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This review explores how environmental exposures, collectively called the exposome, contribute to chronic kidney disease. Factors including air pollution, nanoplastics, pesticides, ultra-processed foods, and socioeconomic stress all appear to interact with genetic predisposition to influence kidney health. The study suggests that since genetics account for less than 20% of overall disease risk, understanding and reducing harmful environmental exposures could be an important strategy for kidney disease prevention.
Genetic predisposition accounts for less than 20% of the global disease burden, highlighting the substantial role of environmental factors in health outcomes. In chronic kidney disease (CKD), a growing global prevalence, understanding the interplay between genes and the environment is crucial. Emerging research in the exposome and genome underscores how environmental exposures interact with genetic variants to influence the development and progression of CKD. The term "exposome" encompasses a variety of factors, including personal behaviors like smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, and making specific dietary choices (such as consuming ultra-processed foods, sugar, or fat). It also includes broader determinants such as pesticides, air, water, and soil pollution, nanoplastics, global warming, stressful life events, and socioeconomic status. Research on the exposome significantly increases our understanding of toxicological processes and individual variations in susceptibility to environmental stressors. This narrative review aims to explore the exposome associated with CKD, highlight key environmental exposures in its development, and discuss potential preventive and therapeutic strategies informed by these exposure-related factors.
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This review argues that microplastics deserve greater consideration as a contributing factor to chronic kidney disease, synthesizing evidence that MPs can accumulate in renal tissue, trigger inflammation and oxidative stress, and may represent an underappreciated environmental driver of CKD.
Evaluation of the Etiology of Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology Beyond Heat Stress: A Pakistani Perspective
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This review of 48 published studies examined why kidney disease of unknown cause is rising in Pakistan. It found that factors beyond heat, including microplastics, nanoplastic particles, heavy metals, and low birth weight, may contribute, especially in people outside farming areas, highlighting a need for community-level research.
Micro- and nanoplastics and the kidney: exposure pathways, toxicokinetics, and pathophysiological insights
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Tiny plastic particles from our air, water, and food—called micro- and nanoplastics—can enter our bodies and travel to the kidneys, where studies show they may cause cell damage, inflammation, and scarring over time. This review pulls together existing research on how these plastics get into our system and harm kidney tissue, suggesting that everyday plastic exposure could be an overlooked risk factor for kidney disease. More research is needed, but this is an early signal that reducing plastic exposure might matter for long-term kidney health.
Micro- and nanoplastics and the kidney: human evidence, clinical vulnerabilities, dialysis-related exposure, and CKD
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Tiny plastic particles have been found in human kidneys, blood, and urine, and this review pulls together existing research suggesting these particles—along with chemicals like BPA and PFAS often found in plastics—may be linked to kidney damage, high blood pressure, and chronic kidney disease. People on dialysis may face extra exposure because their blood repeatedly contacts plastic tubing and filters during treatment, making them an important group to study further. While the science is still developing, this research highlights why reducing plastic exposure and rethinking medical device materials could matter for protecting kidney health, especially in vulnerable patients.
Micro- and Nanoplastics in the Human Exposome: Environmental Pathways, Kidney Toxicity, and Implications for Public Health Risk Assessment
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This review pulls together existing research on tiny plastic particles that enter our bodies through food, water, and air, showing they can build up in organs, especially the kidneys, and potentially cause cell damage and inflammation in lab studies. While these particles have been found in human blood, tissue, and urine, scientists still don't know exactly how much risk this poses to human health, so more research is needed before drawing firm conclusions.
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