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Micro/nanoplastic-driven cardiovascular senescence and multi-target intervention by traditional Chinese medicine
Summary
Researchers reviewed how micro- and nanoplastics accumulate in cardiovascular tissues and accelerate cellular aging through mitochondrial damage, epigenetic changes, telomere shortening, and chronic inflammation, while also highlighting traditional Chinese medicine's multi-target compounds as a potential countermeasure by simultaneously addressing oxidative stress, fibrosis, and cell death pathways.
Micro/nanoplastics (MNPs), pervasive environmental pollutants, accumulate in cardiovascular tissues and drive premature aging through multiscale pathophysiological cascades. This review synthesizes evidence establishing environmental phenotypic aging as a novel mechanistic link between MNP exposure and cardiovascular senescence. MNPs induce mitochondrial damage involving cristae disruption and mtDNA leakage activating cGAS-STING, epigenetic reprogramming encompassing METTL3-mediated m6A hypermethylation and SIRT1/3 suppression, telomere attrition, and NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent inflammaging. It is crucial to note that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been identified as an effective countermeasure. The multi-compound therapeutics of TCM simultaneously target oxidative stress, inflammatory fibrosis, and cell death pathways, thereby restoring cardiovascular homeostasis. By combining environmental toxicology and geroprotection research, this work establishes TCM's holistic approach as a paradigm-shifting intervention against the cardiovascular aging caused by plastic pollution, providing practical strategies to address a mounting public health crisis.