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Microplastics in organ transplantation: An emerging threat requiring immediate action
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This review highlights the emerging concern of microplastic contamination in organ transplantation, where particles may enter through airborne exposure, surgical materials, and organ preservation systems. The study suggests that microplastics can trigger inflammation, oxidative stress, and immune dysregulation in immunosuppressed transplant recipients, potentially compromising graft outcomes and warranting urgent attention from the transplant community.
Microplastic contamination has emerged as a threat in transplantation, with evidence of its presence in human tissues and potential to compromise grafts. Transplant recipients, vulnerable due to immunosuppression and surgical exposure, face risk from microplastics via airborne particles, surgical materials, and organ preservation systems. These particles trigger inflammation, oxidative stress, and immune dysregulation-pathways critical in rejection. Microplastics support biofilm formation, potentially facilitating antimicrobial resistance in clinical settings. Despite this risk, transplant-specific research is lacking. We urge action through environmental controls, material substitutions, and procedural modifications, alongside research targeting exposure pathways, biological impact, and mitigation strategies. Transplantation has historically led medical innovation and must do so in confronting this environmental challenge. Leadership from global transplant societies is essential to protect recipients and ensure safe procedures.
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Microplastic contamination in kidney transplant donor tissues and its association with early post-transplant blood pressure changes in recipients: A multi-modal analytical study
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Researchers analyzed kidney transplant donor tissues using multiple detection methods and found microplastic contamination across all tissue types examined, including kidney, adrenal gland, and blood vessels. They also observed an association between microplastic presence in donor tissues and early blood pressure changes in transplant recipients. The study raises important questions about whether microplastics in transplanted organs could affect recipient health outcomes.
Microplastics in perioperative practice: an emerging concern for surgical safety
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This review highlights the emerging concern of microplastics in surgical environments, noting that single-use plastic equipment in operating rooms generates microplastic particles that can contaminate surgical sites and patient tissues, calling for greater awareness of MP exposure risks in perioperative settings.
P.45: Microplastic in surgery: A scoping literature review on the possible impacts posed by microplastics introduced into the body in surgery.
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This review looked at existing studies on tiny plastic particles (microplastics) that can end up in your body during surgery, shed from IV lines and catheters, floating in operating room air, or worn off from implants and stitches. Researchers found these plastic bits do show up in patient tissue after surgery, but there's still very little research on whether they actually cause harm or affect recovery. Bottom line: this is a real but understudied risk worth more attention, not yet a proven danger.
Mitigating microplastic-induced organ Damage: Mechanistic insights from the microplastic-macrophage axes
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This review is the first comprehensive examination of how microplastics interact with macrophages, the immune cells responsible for engulfing and removing foreign particles from the body. When macrophages absorb microplastics, the resulting oxidative stress disrupts their normal function, leading to inflammation and organ damage, with gut bacteria potentially playing a role in this harmful process.
Microplastics and Nanoplastics as Environmental Contaminants of Emerging Concern: Potential Hazards for Human Health
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This review covers how microplastics and nanoplastics enter humans through food, air, and skin contact, accumulating in the body over time. Inhaled particles can damage the lungs from the upper airways down to the deepest air sacs, and prolonged exposure has been linked to chronic inflammation, autoimmune disease, atherosclerosis, and cancer. The authors call for source reduction, material substitution, and better filtration to reduce exposure.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.