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Cerebral to Systemic Representations of Alzheimer’s Pathogenesis Stimulated by Polystyrene Nanoplastics
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Researchers found that environmentally realistic levels of polystyrene nanoplastics worsened Alzheimer's disease symptoms in mice, triggering brain inflammation, neuron death, and cognitive decline. The nanoplastics also disrupted metabolism and caused organ damage beyond the brain, including liver and kidney effects. This study provides some of the first evidence that nanoplastic exposure could accelerate brain diseases like Alzheimer's, especially as nanoplastics have been found in human brain tissue.
Plastics discharged into the ecosphere can transform into micro- and nanoparticles to instigate interactions with biosystems, posing a threat to environmental sustainability and human health. While nanoplastics have recently been identified in abundance in the human brain, especially in the decedent brain tissues of dementia subjects, how these exogenous miniatures mediate neurological as well as systemic pathologies remains unclear. Here, we first investigated how environmental-level nanoplastic exposure influences the progression of Alzheimer's disease, from cerebral to systemic representations. Specifically, polystyrene nanoplastics aggravated Alzheimer's-like symptoms in both wild-type and APP/PS1 mice and stimulated microglial activation and hippocampal neuronal death, accentuated by peripheral abnormalities of lipid accumulation, hepatic steatosis, inflammation, adipocyte enlargement, and gut microbiota imbalance. These findings implicate that nanoplastic-induced neurological damage is not confined within the brain but expands systemically through the gut-liver-brain axis, thereby contributing to the multiscale and multidirectional progression of Alzheimer's pathophysiology.
More Papers Like This
Cerebral to SystemicRepresentations of Alzheimer’sPathogenesis Stimulated by Polystyrene Nanoplastics
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Researchers exposed both wild-type and APP/PS1 Alzheimer's model mice to environmental levels of polystyrene nanoplastics and measured Alzheimer's-like pathology progression. Nanoplastics exacerbated cognitive decline, microglial activation, and hippocampal neuronal death, particularly in the Alzheimer's model, with systemic inflammatory effects suggesting plastic particles may accelerate neurodegeneration.
Chronic polystyrene microplastic exposure worsens cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer's Disease-like neuropathology in APP/PS1 mice.
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Mice genetically prone to Alzheimer's disease were given tiny polystyrene microplastic particles in drinking water for six months. These mice showed worse memory problems and more brain damage, including amyloid buildup, immune cell activation, and inflammation signals, compared to mice not exposed to microplastics.
Microglial clearance of Alzheimer's amyloid-beta obstructed by nanoplastics
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Researchers found that polystyrene nanoplastics interfere with the brain's ability to clear amyloid-beta, the protein that builds up in Alzheimer's disease. The nanoplastics accelerated amyloid clumping and drained the energy of brain immune cells that normally clean up these harmful proteins. This study suggests that nanoplastic exposure could worsen or contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease.
Polystyrene Nanoplastics Hitch-Hike the Gut–Brain Axis to Exacerbate Parkinson’s Pathology
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Scientists found that polystyrene nanoplastics can travel from the gut to the brain along nerve pathways and worsen Parkinson's disease in mice. The nanoplastics accelerated the clumping of alpha-synuclein, a protein central to Parkinson's, which triggered brain inflammation, damaged mitochondria, and impaired the cellular cleanup system. Mice exposed to both nanoplastics and the disease protein showed progressive physical and motor decline resembling Parkinson's symptoms.
Food-borne polystyrene microplastic exposure exacerbates cognitive deficiency via enhanced neuronal synaptic damage and neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease
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This study exposed Alzheimer's disease model mice (APP/PS1) to polystyrene microplastics via food and found that MP exposure worsened cognitive deficits by exacerbating hippocampal mitochondrial damage and neuroinflammation. The results suggest MP exposure may accelerate Alzheimer's disease progression in vulnerable individuals.
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