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Polystyrene nanoplastics chronic exposure cause zebrafish visual neurobehavior toxicity through TGFβ-crystallin axis
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Zebrafish chronically exposed to polystyrene nanoplastics showed significant vision problems, including structural damage to the retina and lens, with the largest particles (500 nm) causing the worst effects. The nanoplastics accumulated in retinal tissue and disrupted key signaling pathways involved in vision, suggesting that long-term nanoplastic exposure could pose risks to eye health.
The ubiquitous presence of micro-and nanoplastics (MNPs) in the environment and everyday products has attracted global attention for their hazardous risks. However, the effects and underling mechanisms of MNPs chronic exposure on behavioral/visual changes of the adult and offspring remain unclear. The present study investigated the impact of polystyrene (PS) nanoplastics of 80, 200 and 500 nm diameters on zebrafish visual behaviors at an environmentally relevant concentration of 0.1 mg/L. Exposure to PS resulted in zebrafish hyperactivity, enhanced aggression, compacted shoaling and less sociability, and especially suppressed the adult optokinetic response (OKR) and offspring larval phototactic behavior, with the 500 nm PS being the most detrimental. Histopathological analysis showed 500 nm PS caused significant structural damage to the retina's pigment epithelium (RPE), photoreceptor cells (PRC), and crystalline lens. Fluorescence observation found PS accumulation in retinal layers correlated with reduced oligodendrocyte transcription factor 2 (Olig2) in optic nerve. Further transcriptomic analysis of the adult eye tissue revealed that 500 nm PS affected the transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) and phototransduction signaling pathways, dysregulated visual perception and lens development, potentially leading to dysopia in zebrafish. Specifically, TGFβ and its regulated-extracellular matrix/inflammatory factors and crystallin genes were increased, but the visual perception genes were decreased, suggesting the TGFβ-crystallin axis disorders contribute to the eye dysfunction induced by PS exposure. Collectively, our results provide new evidence revealing the molecular mechanisms of PS-induced visual toxicity and neurobehavioral changes highlighting that MNPs may pose a risk to vision health.
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Researchers exposed zebrafish embryos and juveniles to polystyrene nanoplastics of three different sizes and found that all sizes crossed into the brain, eyes, and other organs. Smaller particles tended to cause different types of damage than larger ones, including changes in brain development and behavior. This size-dependent toxicity is relevant to human health because we are exposed to a wide range of nanoplastic sizes through food and water.
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Zebrafish embryos exposed to polystyrene nanoplastics showed dose-dependent developmental problems including delayed hatching, reduced survival, smaller body size, and the nanoplastics accumulated in critical organs like the eyes, heart, liver, and brain. The particles triggered oxidative stress that damaged cells and activated inflammatory immune responses, demonstrating how nanoplastic contamination in water can cause widespread harm to developing organisms.
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