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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Hepatotoxic Mechanisms of Micro- and Nanoplastics in Animal Models: A Scoping Review with Human Health Implications
ClearNanoplastics, Liver Injury, and Oxidative Mechanisms: Translating Animal Models Into Human Risk Assessment
This scoping review synthesized evidence from animal studies on how micro- and nanoplastics cause liver injury, focusing on the underlying mechanisms of toxicity. Researchers found that oxidative stress is a principal pathway by which these particles damage liver tissue, and the study evaluates what these preclinical findings may mean for assessing human health risks from plastic particle exposure.
Exposure to microplastics and liver oncogenesis: A comprehensive review on molecular mechanisms and pathogenic pathways
Researchers reviewed mechanisms by which microplastic exposure may promote liver cancer, identifying oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammatory signaling, and epigenetic disruption as key pathways, while noting that microplastics can also carry heavy metals and organic pollutants that synergistically amplify hepatotoxic and carcinogenic risk.
Microplastics and nanoplastics: Emerging drivers of hepatic pathogenesis and metabolic dysfunction
This review examines emerging evidence linking micro- and nanoplastic exposure to liver disease, including metabolic dysfunction-associated liver disease, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. Researchers found that these particles may contribute to liver damage through oxidative stress, inflammation, and disruption of metabolic pathways. The study highlights the need for further research into how environmental plastic contamination may be influencing the rising rates of liver disease worldwide.
Nanoplastics and Microplastics May Be Damaging Our Livers
This systematic review summarizes research on how micro- and nanoplastics may damage the liver. Since the liver is the body's main detoxification organ, it plays a key role in processing plastic particles that enter the body through food, water, and air, and the evidence suggests these particles can cause inflammation, oxidative stress, and other liver problems.
Impact of microplastics and nanoplastics on liver health: Current understanding and future research directions
This review summarizes what scientists know about how micro- and nanoplastics affect the liver, which is one of the first organs exposed because it processes everything absorbed from the gut. The particles trigger oxidative stress, disrupt energy metabolism, cause cell death, and promote inflammation, and may contribute to conditions like fatty liver disease and liver fibrosis. The paper also highlights how plastics can disturb the gut microbiome, which communicates with the liver through the gut-liver axis and may amplify liver damage.
Mechanisms of microplastics on gastrointestinal injury and liver metabolism disorder (Review)
This review summarizes how microplastics and nanoplastics can damage the gastrointestinal tract and disrupt liver metabolism when they enter the human body. The particles trigger oxidative stress, inflammation, and cell death in gut tissues, and can interfere with how the liver processes glucose and fats. As plastics continue to break down into ever-smaller particles, the potential for harm increases because nanoplastics can penetrate cells more easily.
The hepatotoxicity assessment of micro/nanoplastics: A preliminary study to apply the adverse outcome pathways
Researchers reviewed the literature on how micro- and nanoplastics cause liver damage and organized the findings into an Adverse Outcome Pathway framework. They found that plastic particles can trigger oxidative stress, inflammation, and metabolic disruption in the liver, potentially leading to dysfunction. The study provides a structured way to understand the chain of events from plastic particle exposure to liver harm, highlighting potential health risks for humans.
Potential toxicity of microplastics on vertebrate liver: A systematic review and meta–analysis
This meta-analysis of 118 studies found that microplastics damage vertebrate livers by inducing oxidative stress and intracellular toxicity, altering biotransformation processes, and disrupting lipid metabolism. Organisms at earlier life stages, exposed to smaller particles, and for longer durations showed the greatest liver damage, with catalase, GST, reactive oxygen species, and alkaline phosphatase levels progressively increasing with microplastic concentration.
Emerging threat of environmental microplastics: A comprehensive analysis of hepatic metabolic dysregulation and hepatocellular damage (Review)
This review summarizes existing research on how microplastics damage the liver, which is a key organ for filtering toxins from the body. Studies show that microplastics can cause liver tissue damage, trigger cell death, and disrupt fat metabolism, with smaller particles and longer exposure causing worse effects. The findings highlight the liver as a particularly vulnerable organ because it accumulates microplastics that enter the body through food and water.
Microplastics in focus: a silent disruptor of liver health- a systematic review
This systematic review examines how micro- and nanoplastics affect liver health, based on 25 experimental and observational studies. The evidence shows that polystyrene particles can cause liver inflammation, oxidative stress, fat buildup, and disruption of metabolic pathways. These findings are concerning because the liver is the body's primary detoxification organ, and plastic-related damage could impair its ability to process other toxins.
Nanoplastics Toxicity Specific to Liver in Inducing Metabolic Dysfunction—A Comprehensive Review
This review examines how nanoplastics, particles smaller than 100 nanometers, accumulate in and damage the liver. Researchers found that nanoplastics enter the body through the respiratory and digestive systems, reach the liver via the bloodstream, and can disrupt the gut-liver axis and gut microbiome. The evidence suggests that liver damage from nanoplastics may trigger cascading effects on other organs, highlighting the need for further research on these less visible pollutants.
Table 1_Microplastics in focus: a silent disruptor of liver health- a systematic review.docx
This systematic review of 25 studies found that micro- and nanoplastics can damage liver cells by causing oxidative stress, inflammation, and disrupting how the liver processes fats. These findings suggest that plastic particles small enough to reach the liver could contribute to liver disease, though more human studies are needed.
Cellular and Systemic Effects of Micro- and Nanoplastics in Mammals—What We Know So Far
This review summarized known cellular and systemic effects of micro- and nanoplastics in mammals, finding that while ingestion is common, knowledge of health impacts remains limited, with oxidative stress and inflammation as the most reported biological responses.
Potential health impact of environmental micro‐ and nanoplastics pollution
This review examines the potential health impacts of micro- and nanoplastic pollution on humans, focusing on oral and inhalation exposure routes. The study discusses how the potential toxicity of plastic particles arises from the plastics themselves, leachable chemical additives, and adsorbed environmental contaminants. Evidence indicates that the primary health concerns involve gastrointestinal and liver effects, with oxidative stress, inflammation, and metabolism disruption as key toxicological mechanisms.
Microplastic-mediated new mechanism of liver damage: From the perspective of the gut-liver axis
This review describes how microplastics can damage the liver through the gut-liver axis: they first disrupt the gut's protective barrier and beneficial bacteria, allowing harmful substances to leak through the weakened intestinal wall into the bloodstream and travel to the liver. Once there, these substances cause inflammation, metabolic problems, and oxidative stress, offering a new explanation for how microplastic exposure could lead to liver disease.
Chronic Microplastic Exposure Dose‐Dependently Induces Liver Failure via Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, and Apoptosis in Rats
This animal study found that chronic exposure to polyethylene microplastics caused dose-dependent liver damage in rats over just four weeks. Higher doses led to increased markers of liver injury, oxidative stress, inflammation, and cell death, suggesting that ongoing microplastic ingestion could harm liver health over time.
Oral exposure to polyethylene microplastics induces inflammatory and metabolic changes and promotes fibrosis in mouse liver.
Mice fed polyethylene microplastics in their food for 6 to 9 weeks developed liver inflammation, metabolic disruption, oxidative stress, and increased cell growth in the liver. The microplastics also worsened liver scarring (fibrosis) when tested in mice with pre-existing liver damage. This is the first study to show that ingesting polyethylene, the most common type of plastic, can directly damage the mammalian liver and could worsen existing liver conditions.
Adipose tissue as target of environmental toxicants: focus on mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative inflammation in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease
This review examines how environmental toxicants, including micro and nanoplastics, target fat tissue and contribute to metabolic diseases like obesity, diabetes, and fatty liver disease. These pollutants disrupt mitochondria (the energy-producing parts of cells) and trigger a cycle of oxidative stress and inflammation that damages both fat tissue and the liver. The findings suggest that microplastic exposure could be one of several environmental factors contributing to the rising rates of metabolic disease worldwide.
Hazards of microplastics exposure to liver function in fishes: A systematic review and meta-analysis
This meta-analysis found that microplastic exposure significantly impairs fish liver function, elevating key liver enzymes (AST, ALT, ALP, LDH) and triggering oxidative stress markers in liver tissue. The toxicological mechanisms include inflammation, apoptosis, and metabolic disruption, raising concerns about the health of fish populations in microplastic-contaminated waters and the safety of fish as a human food source.
Hepatic and metabolic outcomes induced by sub-chronic exposure to polystyrene microplastics in mice
Researchers studied the effects of sub-chronic polystyrene microplastic exposure on mouse livers using multiple analytical approaches. They found that microplastics accumulated in liver tissue and caused inflammation, oxidative stress, and disruption of normal metabolic processes including lipid and amino acid metabolism. The study suggests that prolonged microplastic ingestion may pose significant risks to liver health.
Polystyrene microplastics induce hepatotoxicity and disrupt lipid metabolism in the liver organoids
Using lab-grown human liver organoids, researchers showed that polystyrene microplastics caused liver cell damage even at concentrations found in the environment. The microplastics disrupted fat metabolism, increased harmful reactive oxygen species, and triggered inflammation in the liver tissue. This study provides early evidence that microplastic exposure could contribute to liver problems like fatty liver disease in humans.
A computational framework for multi-scale data fusion in assessing the associations between micro- and nanoplastics and human hepatotoxicity
Researchers developed a computational toxicology framework integrating multi-source data and network analysis to map associations between micro- and nanoplastics and hepatotoxicity, identifying key molecular pathways through which MNPs may damage the liver, offering a scalable alternative to traditional in vivo testing.
Nanoplastic Exposure at Environmental Concentrations Disrupts Hepatic Lipid Metabolism through Oxidative Stress Induction and Endoplasmic Reticulum Homeostasis Perturbation
A study in fish found that nanoplastics at environmentally realistic concentrations accumulated in the liver and disrupted fat metabolism, causing a condition similar to fatty liver disease. Smaller nanoplastics (100 nanometers) caused more severe damage than larger microplastics by disrupting protein processing in cells and triggering oxidative stress. These findings raise concerns that nanoplastics in the environment could affect liver health in fish and potentially in humans who consume contaminated seafood.
Microplastics in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: An emerging threat to liver health
This review examined emerging evidence linking microplastic exposure to the development and progression of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD, formerly NAFLD). The authors found that microplastics detected in liver tissue can exacerbate hepatic inflammation, lipid accumulation, and oxidative stress through multiple mechanisms, adding a novel environmental risk factor to MASLD pathogenesis.