We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Weathered polyethylene microplastics induced immunomodulation in zebrafish
Summary
Researchers exposed zebrafish to weathered polyethylene microplastics for 40 days and found significant changes in immune system markers, including lysozyme activity and blood cell counts. Male fish were more affected than females, suggesting that sex may influence vulnerability to microplastic exposure. These findings are concerning because immune system disruption could make organisms, and potentially humans, more susceptible to infections and disease.
Microplastics are pollutants of emerging concern and the aquatic biota consumes microplastics (MPs), which has a range of toxicological and environmental effects on aquatic organisms that are not the intended targets. The current study looked into how weathered polyethylene (wPE) MPs affected Danio albolineatus immunological and haematological markers. In this experiment, fish of both sexes were placed in control and exposure groups, and they were exposed for 40 d at the sublethal level (1 μg L) of fragmented wPE, which contained 1074 ± 52 MPs per litre. Similarly, fish exposed to wPE MPs showed significant modifications in lysozyme, antimicrobial, and antiprotease activity, as well as differential counts. Results of the present study show that the male fish were more susceptible than female fish after 40 d of chronic exposure. Further studies are needed to ascertain how the innate and humoral immune systems of the fish respond to MPs exposure.