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Comparative analysis of reproductive toxicity of polystyrene‐nanoplastics and polystyrene‐microplastics in rat Sertoli cells

Andrology 2025 Score: 48 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Ying Hu, Shuyi Jiang, Ying Xu, Y T Zhang, Qiang Zhang, Wenjie Zhou, Jinhong Liang, Su Wenhui

Summary

This comparative study found that polystyrene nanoplastics cause greater toxicity to Sertoli cells than microplastics due to cellular internalization, disrupting blood-testis barrier integrity via oxidative stress and apoptosis, while microplastics primarily triggered extracellular inflammation.

Polymers
Models

PS-NPs pose greater toxicity to SCs than PS-MPs due to cellular internalization, disrupting barrier integrity via oxidative stress/apoptosis. PS-MPs primarily trigger extracellular inflammation. Distinct ceRNA networks underpin their differential mechanisms. These results highlight risks of environmental microplastic fragmentation into nanoplastics, emphasizing the need for further research on microplastic impacts on male fertility.

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