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Toxicity of nanoplastics for zebrafish embryos, what we know and where to go next
Summary
This review integrates findings from studies on how polystyrene nanoplastics affect zebrafish embryo development, a widely used model for understanding toxicity. Researchers found that the functional coating on nanoplastic surfaces had a greater influence on toxic effects than particle size or concentration alone. The study highlights that surface chemistry is a critical and often overlooked factor in nanoplastic toxicity, and calls for more standardized study designs to improve comparability across research.
Nanoplastics (NP) are an emerging threat to human health and there is a need to understand their toxicity. Zebrafish (ZF) is extensively used as a toxicology model due to its power to com-bine genetic, cellular, and whole organism endpoints. The present review integrates results regarding polystyrene NP effects on ZF embryo development. Study design was evaluated against NP effects. NP size, concentration, and exposure time did not affect organism responses (mortality, development, heart rate, locomotion) or cellular responses (gene expression, enzymes, metabolites). However, NP accumulation depended on size. Smaller NP can reach internal organs (brain, eyes, liver, pancreas, heart) but larger (>200 nm) accumulate mainly in gut, gills and skin. Locomotion and heart rate were commonly affected with hypoactivity and bradycardia being more prevalent. Effects on genetic/enzymatic/metabolic pathways were thoroughly analyzed. Immunity genes were generally upregulated whereas oxidative stress response genes varied. Central nervous system genes and visual related genes were generally downregulated. Results of genetic and enzymatic analyses coincided only for some genes/enzyme pairs. Reviewed studies provide a basis for understanding NP toxicity but results are hard to integrate. We propose key recommendations and future directions with regard to experimental design that may allow greater comparability across future studies.
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