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Adverse effects polystyrene microplastics exert on zebrafish heart – Molecular to individual level
Summary
Researchers fed zebrafish microplastic-enriched food for 21 days and found significant damage to heart function, including reduced contraction strength and frequency, along with decreased swimming ability. At the cellular level, the fish showed increased oxidative stress, DNA damage, and disrupted energy metabolism in heart tissue. The study provides evidence that microplastic exposure can affect cardiovascular health in fish from the molecular level up to whole-organism fitness.
In the present study the effects of sublethal concentrations of polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) on zebrafish were evaluated at multiple levels, related to fish activity and oxidative stress, metabolic changes and contraction parameters in the heart tissue. Zebrafish were fed for 21 days food enriched with PS-MPs (particle sizes 3-12 µm) and a battery of stress indices like DNA damage, lipid peroxidation, autophagy, ubiquitin levels, caspases activation, metabolite adjustments, frequency and force of ventricular contraction were measured in fish heart, parallel to fish swimming velocity. In particular, exposure to PS-MPs caused significant decrease in heart function and swimming competence, while enhanced levels of oxidative stress indices and metabolic adjustments were observed in the heart of challenged species. Among stress indices, DNA damage was more vulnerable to the effect of PS-MPs. Our results provide evidence on the multiplicity of the PS-MPs effects on cellular function, physiology and metabolic pathways and heart rate of adult fish and subsequent effects on fish activity and fish fitness thus enlightening MPs characterization as a potent environmental pollutant.