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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Association of microplastics in human cerebrospinal fluid with Alzheimer’s disease-related changes
ClearAssociation Between Microplastic Exposure and Cognitive Function Decline
Researchers detected PET and polypropylene microplastics in blood, urine, and feces of study participants and found a significant association between higher microplastic concentrations in biological fluids and greater cognitive function decline, particularly among those with the highest exposure levels.
A case-control study linking concentrations of microplastics in human cerebrospinal fluid to intracranial aneurysm risk
In a case-control study, researchers detected seven types of microplastics in the cerebrospinal fluid of both intracranial aneurysm patients and controls, with polyethylene and polypropylene being the most abundant. The study found that higher levels of polypropylene and PVC in cerebrospinal fluid were associated with a significantly elevated risk of intracranial aneurysm, suggesting a potential link between microplastic exposure and cerebrovascular health.
Detection of micro- and nanoplastics in cerebrospinal fluid and blood: Implications for brain diseases
Researchers measured micro- and nanoplastic concentrations in paired cerebrospinal fluid and blood samples from patients with neurological conditions. They detected five types of plastic polymers in both fluids, with blood containing significantly higher concentrations than cerebrospinal fluid, and found correlations between plastic levels in the two fluids among patients with neuroimmune and neuroinfectious conditions. The study also identified disrupted metabolic pathways associated with higher plastic concentrations, suggesting a potential link between plastic particle exposure and changes in brain chemistry that warrants further investigation.
A novel risk factor for dementia: chronic microplastic exposure
This review examines emerging evidence that chronic microplastic exposure may be a previously overlooked risk factor for dementia. Microplastics can cross the blood-brain barrier and may promote brain damage through oxidative stress, inflammation, and by accelerating the buildup of amyloid plaques linked to Alzheimer's disease, with studies finding higher microplastic levels in the brains of dementia patients compared to controls.
Alzheimer’s disease: the role of extrinsic factors in its development, an investigation of the environmental enigma
This review examines how environmental contaminants, including microplastics, may contribute to Alzheimer's disease risk. Along with air pollutants, toxic metals, and pesticides, plastics and microplastics are identified as potential risk factors that may promote brain inflammation and neurodegeneration. The review explores the molecular mechanisms behind these effects and suggests strategies to reduce the brain health impacts of environmental contaminants.
Low-Density Polyethylene Microplastics in the Blood Seems not Induce Alzheimer’s Disease in Wistar Rat
Researchers investigated whether low-density polyethylene microplastics in the blood trigger Alzheimer's disease in Wistar rats, noting that these particles enter the human body through contaminated food sources including table salt, fish, tea bags, and drinking water.
The Role of Emerging Environmental Contaminants on Alzheimer’s Disease
This review examined the role of emerging environmental contaminants, including microplastics, in the development and progression of Alzheimer's disease. The authors discussed mechanisms including oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and blood-brain barrier disruption as potential pathways linking environmental exposures to AD pathogenesis.
White matter hyperintensities and microplastics
Researchers aligned ante-mortem and post-mortem brain MRI scans and found large amounts of plastic particles in brain regions showing white matter hyperintensities, which are associated with small vessel disease. Using a novel optical imaging approach, they identified the cellular locations of these plastics in areas with vascular injury and amyloid plaques. The study raises important questions about whether microplastics in the brain contribute to or result from pre-existing vascular damage in people with cognitive impairment.
Bioaccumulation of microplastics in decedent human brains
Researchers found microplastics in human brain, liver, and kidney tissue samples, with plastic levels significantly higher in samples from 2024 compared to 2016. The brain contained especially high levels of polyethylene, and brains from people with dementia had even more plastic accumulation. These findings suggest that microplastics are building up in human organs over time, raising urgent questions about potential health effects.
Cerebral to SystemicRepresentations of Alzheimer’sPathogenesis Stimulated by Polystyrene Nanoplastics
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.
DMSP for 'Quantitative Assessment of Nanoplastics in Alzheimer's Disease Brain and Their Role in Amyloid-β Aggregation'
Researchers quantitatively assessed nanoplastic contamination in Alzheimer's disease brain tissue and investigated whether nanoplastics play a role in amyloid-beta aggregation. The study suggests that nanoplastics, now ubiquitous in the environment and present in drinking water and food, may represent an environmental factor that could modify Alzheimer's disease pathology by interacting with amyloid-beta protein aggregation.
The Potential Presence of Microplastics in Daily Food and Beverage Consumption May Lead to Alzheimer's disease in The Thai Population
This review examines the potential presence of microplastics in everyday food and beverages including seafood, tap water, bottled water, and packaged foods, summarizing current contamination data and dietary exposure estimates. The authors highlight the need for standardized methods to improve comparability across studies.
Exposure to Polystyrene Microplastics Promotes the Progression of Cognitive Impairment in Alzheimer’s Disease: Association with Induction of Microglial Pyroptosis
In a mouse study, polystyrene microplastics worsened cognitive decline in an Alzheimer's disease model by triggering a type of inflammatory cell death called pyroptosis in brain immune cells. The microplastics caused brain inflammation that accelerated memory loss and cognitive impairment beyond what Alzheimer's alone caused. This is one of the first studies suggesting that microplastic exposure could make neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's progress faster.
Alzheimer's Disease: New Perspectives
This review of Alzheimer's disease research challenges the dominant amyloid hypothesis and examines evidence that toxic environmental exposures — including microplastics and their chemical additives — may contribute to disease risk, arguing for broader investigation of environmental factors in neurodegeneration.
Impact of nanoplastics on Alzheimer ’s disease: Enhanced amyloid-β peptide aggregation and augmented neurotoxicity
Researchers found that even very low concentrations of polystyrene nanoplastics can speed up the clumping of amyloid-beta protein, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, and increase its toxicity to brain cells. The hydrophobic (water-repelling) surface of the nanoplastics helps the proteins stick together faster, suggesting a potential link between environmental nanoplastic exposure and increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Short-Term Exposure to Polystyrene Microplastics Alters Cognition, Immune, and Metabolic Markers in an APOE Genotype and Sex-Dependent Manner
Researchers exposed Alzheimer's disease mouse models to polystyrene microplastics for a short term and observed worsened cognitive performance, altered immune markers, and disrupted metabolic pathways, suggesting that MP exposure may accelerate neurological decline in individuals already vulnerable to dementia.
Microglial clearance of Alzheimer's amyloid-beta obstructed by nanoplastics
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.
From exposure to neurotoxicity induced by micro-nanoplastics with brain accumulation and cognitive decline
This review synthesizes evidence that micro- and nanoplastics can reach the brain by crossing the blood-brain barrier or traveling along nerve pathways, accumulating in regions critical for memory and thinking. Animal studies show that chronic exposure leads to cognitive problems, behavioral changes, and brain changes resembling neurodegenerative diseases, driven by oxidative stress, inflammation, and disruption of the gut-brain connection. The findings raise concern that long-term human exposure to nanoplastics through food and air could contribute to cognitive decline and neurological disease.
Insights into the toxic effects of micro-nano-plastics on the human brain and their relationship with the onset of neurological diseases: A narrative review.
This review examined toxic effects of micro and nano-plastics (MNPs) on the human brain, linking MNP exposure to neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, disruption of the blood-brain barrier, and progression toward neurodegenerative diseases. The authors synthesized evidence from cell studies, animal models, and emerging human data.
Bioaccumulation of Microplastics in Decedent Human Brains Assessed by Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Researchers analyzed autopsy samples and found that human brains contained significantly higher concentrations of microplastics than livers or kidneys, with polyethylene being the dominant type. Strikingly, microplastic levels in brain tissue increased substantially between samples collected in 2016 and 2024, suggesting that human brain exposure to microplastics is rising over time.
Food-borne polystyrene microplastic exposure exacerbates cognitive deficiency via enhanced neuronal synaptic damage and neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease
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.
Qualitative and quantitative analysis of microplastics and nanoplastics in healthy human central nervous system and its blood-brain barrier transmission efficiency-A pilot study
In a pilot study, researchers measured microplastics and nanoplastics in healthy human brain tissue, blood plasma, and cerebrospinal fluid, finding polyethylene and PVC as the most prevalent types. The study suggests that common plastics can effectively cross the blood-brain barrier, with PVC showing a transmission efficiency of about 100%, highlighting the need to consider potential neurotoxic effects of everyday plastic exposure.
Effects of Microplastic Accumulation on Neuronal Death After Global Cerebral Ischemia
Researchers found that microplastics worsened brain damage after a stroke-like event in mice, increasing inflammation, damaging the protective coating around nerve fibers, and causing more brain cell death. The microplastics also triggered the release of abnormal tau proteins, similar to what happens in Alzheimer's disease, suggesting that microplastic exposure could make the brain more vulnerable to injury and neurodegenerative conditions.
The role of microplastics exposure in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease
Researchers reviewed the mechanistic links between microplastic and nanoplastic exposure and the two most common neurodegenerative diseases — Alzheimer's and Parkinson's — finding evidence that oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, blood-brain barrier disruption, and protein aggregation are key pathways connecting plastic pollution to neurodegeneration.