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Micro- and nanoplastics are elevated in femoral atherosclerotic plaques compared with undiseased arteries
Summary
Researchers found significantly higher concentrations of microplastics and nanoplastics in diseased arterial plaques from human patients with limb-threatening vascular disease compared to healthy arteries, adding to growing evidence that these particles accumulate in cardiovascular tissue and may play a role in artery disease.
This work demonstrates high levels of micronanoplastics (MNPs) in human femoral artery atherosclerotic plaques as compared with healthy, nondiseased human carotid arteries. No clear associations between age and MNP levels were demonstrated amongst limb ischemia or control patients. Some individual polymers are associated with advanced atherosclerotic disease (chronic limb-threatening ischemia) compared with claudication. These data add to the growing literature suggesting that MNP particles accumulate in atherosclerotic lesions. Future work should investigate what mechanistic role, if any, MNPs may play in the pathophysiology of vascular atherosclerotic disease.