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Article Tier 2 Food & Water Human Health Effects Marine & Wildlife Nanoplastics Sign in to save

Dietary polystyrene nanoplastics exposure alters liver lipid metabolism and muscle nutritional quality in carnivorous marine fish large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea)

Journal of Hazardous Materials 2021 145 citations

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Researchers fed polystyrene nanoplastics to large yellow croaker fish for 21 days and found that the particles accumulated in liver cells and disrupted lipid metabolism. The nanoplastics caused excessive fat buildup in the liver and altered the fatty acid composition and texture of fish muscle tissue. The study suggests that nanoplastic contamination in seafood could affect both fish health and the nutritional quality of fish consumed by humans.

Polymers
Study Type In vitro

Nanoplastics (NPs) cause various adverse effects on marine fish. However, effects of dietary NPs exposure on liver lipid metabolism and muscle nutritional quality of carnivorous marine fish are not fully understood. In this study, a 21-day feeding test was conducted to simulate the food chain transfer of polystyrene nanoplastics (PS NPs) and then evaluate effects of different dietary PS NPs levels on the survival, growth performance, liver lipid metabolism, and muscle nutritional quality of large yellow croaker Larimichthys crocea. Results indicated that the survival and growth of large yellow croaker decreased with the increase of PS NPs levels. Moreover, PS NPs induced excessive liver lipid accumulation by down-regulating the expression of lipolysis-related genes and inhibiting the AMPK-PPARα signaling pathway. In vitro, PS NPs could be accumulated in hepatocytes, reduce cell viability, and disrupt lipid metabolism of hepatocytes. Also, we found for the first time that PS NPs altered fatty acid composition and texture of fish muscle by enhancing oxidative stress and disrupting lipid metabolism. Overall, this study indicated that PS NPs induced liver lipid deposition by inhibiting lipolysis, and demonstrated that PS NPs altered the nutritional quality of fish, which might cause potential health effects for human consumers.

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