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Tier 2
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Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence.
Human Health Effects
Nanoplastics
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Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Atheromas and Cardiovascular Events
New England Journal of Medicine2024
843 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Raffaele Marfella,
Francesco Prattichizzo,
Celestino Sardu,
Gianluca Fulgenzi,
Laura Graciotti,
Tatiana Spadoni,
Nunzia D’Onofrio,
Lucia Scisciola,
Rosalba La Grotta,
Chiara Frigé,
Valeria Pellegrini,
Maurizio Municinò,
Mario Siniscalchi,
Fabio Spinetti,
Gennaro Vigliotti,
Carmine Vecchione,
Albino Carrizzo,
Giulio Accarino,
Antonio Squillante,
Giuseppe Spaziano,
Davida Mirra,
Renata Esposito,
Simona Altieri,
Giovanni Falco,
Angelo Fenti,
Simona Galoppo,
Silvana Canzano,
Ferdinando Carlo Sasso,
Giulia Matacchione,
Olivieri Fabiola,
Franca Ferraraccio,
Iacopo Panarese,
Pasquale Paolisso,
Emanuele Barbato,
Carmine Lubritto,
Maria Luisa Balestrieri,
Ciro Mauro,
A. Enrique Caballero,
Sanjay Rajagopalan,
Antonio Ceriello,
Bruno D’Agostino,
Pasquale Iovino,
Giuseppe Paolisso
Summary
This landmark clinical study found that patients with micro- and nanoplastics detected in their carotid artery plaque had a significantly higher risk of heart attack, stroke, or death over a 34-month follow-up period compared to those without detectable plastics. This is one of the first studies to directly link microplastic presence in human blood vessels to worse cardiovascular outcomes. The findings suggest that plastic accumulation in arteries may be an important and previously unrecognized risk factor for heart disease.
In this study, patients with carotid artery plaque in which MNPs were detected had a higher risk of a composite of myocardial infarction, stroke, or death from any cause at 34 months of follow-up than those in whom MNPs were not detected. (Funded by Programmi di Ricerca Scientifica di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT05900947.).