Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

The nexus of environmental endocrine-disrupting chemical exposure and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: An emerging public health challenge

This review examines evidence that chronic low-dose exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, including micro- and nanoplastics, may be an underappreciated factor driving the global rise of metabolic liver disease. Researchers found that these pollutants can promote liver fat accumulation, inflammation, and scarring by disrupting hormone signaling, gut health, and mitochondrial function. The study suggests that environmental chemical exposures should be considered alongside diet and lifestyle when assessing liver disease risk.

2025 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 1 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2025 Hepatology forum/Hepatology forum (Online) 1 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2025 World Journal of Hepatology
Article Tier 2

The Impact of Micro-Nanoplastics on Mitochondria in the Context of Diet and Diet-Related Diseases

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics may worsen diet-related diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes by damaging mitochondria, the energy-producing structures inside cells. Studies suggest that microplastic exposure combined with unhealthy diets can amplify metabolic problems like insulin resistance and high blood sugar. The findings point to mitochondrial damage as a key link between microplastic exposure and the growing epidemic of metabolic diseases.

2025 Stresses 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental nanoplastics induce mitochondrial dysfunction: A review of cellular mechanisms and associated diseases

This review summarizes how nanoplastics, which are small enough to enter individual cells, damage mitochondria (the energy-producing structures inside cells) by disrupting their shape, function, and ability to produce energy. This mitochondrial damage has been linked to a range of diseases including neurodegeneration, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and reproductive problems. The findings help explain why nanoplastic exposure may contribute to multiple chronic health conditions through a common cellular mechanism.

2025 Environmental Pollution 8 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2026 Toxicology
Article Tier 2

Biological exposure to microplastics and nanoplastics and plastic additives: impairment of glycolipid metabolism and adverse effects on metabolic diseases

This review examines how exposure to micro- and nanoplastics disrupts the body's ability to process sugars and fats, potentially contributing to diabetes, obesity, and atherosclerosis. The plastics cause inflammation and oxidative stress, damage gut bacteria, trigger insulin resistance, and increase fat buildup in the liver. For people who already have metabolic conditions, plastic exposure may make their disease worse.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 23 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2024 World Journal of Gastroenterology 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Chronic Nanoplastic Exposure Promotes the Development and Progression of Metabolic Dysfunction‐Associated Steatotic Liver Disease

This study found that chronic exposure to nanoplastics promotes the development and worsening of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (formerly known as fatty liver disease). Nanoplastics appear to increase vulnerability to liver disease progression. The finding is concerning because fatty liver disease is already widespread, and everyday nanoplastic exposure through food and water could be making it worse.

2025 Liver International 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastic propels diet-induced NAFL to NASH via ER-mitochondrial tether-controlled redox switch

Researchers investigated how nanoplastic exposure may accelerate the progression of diet-induced fatty liver conditions in animal models. The study found that nanoplastics disrupted the connections between the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria, triggering oxidative stress responses that worsened liver inflammation and damage.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Beyond Calories: Redox Interactions in Adipose Tissue that Lead to Metabolic Pathologies

This review examined how polyunsaturated fatty acids in adipose tissue are vulnerable to lipid peroxidation and how redox imbalance in fat tissue contributes to metabolic disorders. Environmental contaminants including microplastics were discussed as potential disruptors of adipose tissue redox homeostasis.

2025 Preprints.org
Article Tier 2

A metabolomics perspective on the effect of environmental micro and nanoplastics on living organisms: A review

This review examines how scientists use metabolomics, the study of small molecules produced by cellular processes, to understand the toxic effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on living organisms. The research shows that these plastic particles disrupt metabolism in consistent ways across species, affecting energy production, fat processing, and amino acid pathways. These shared metabolic disruptions across different organisms suggest that microplastics could cause similar metabolic problems in humans.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 16 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 81 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2025 International Journal of Molecular Medicine 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Molecular LandscapeRemodeling Unravels the Cross-Linksof Microplastics-Induced Lipidomic Fluctuations,Nutrient Disorders and Energy Disarrangements

This study examined how polypropylene microplastics accumulate in and damage the mouse liver, using integrated lipidomics and transcriptomics to map the molecular landscape of microplastic-induced lipid disruption and metabolic dysfunction.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Assessing micro and nanoplastics toxicity using rodent models: Investigating potential mitochondrial implications

This review examines recent rodent studies investigating how micro- and nanoplastics affect cellular health, with a focus on potential mitochondrial impacts. Researchers found that while no study has directly targeted mitochondrial effects, several reported molecular and biochemical changes consistent with disrupted mitochondrial function, including oxidative stress. The study suggests that mitochondria may be an important but understudied target of micro- and nanoplastic toxicity.

2023 Toxicology 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Mitochondria as a target of micro- and nanoplastic toxicity

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics damage mitochondria, the energy-producing structures inside cells. Studies show that plastic particles can disrupt energy production, cause harmful oxidative stress, and interfere with the cell's ability to repair or recycle damaged mitochondria. Since mitochondrial damage is linked to many chronic diseases including heart disease, neurodegeneration, and diabetes, this helps explain why microplastic exposure may have widespread health effects.

2025 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Hepatotoxic Mechanisms of Micro- and Nanoplastics in Animal Models: A Scoping Review with Human Health Implications

This scoping review examines hepatotoxic mechanisms of micro- and nanoplastics in animal models, identifying oxidative stress, inflammation, lipid peroxidation, and epigenetic alterations as the primary pathways through which plastic particles damage liver tissue.

2025 OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints)
Article Tier 2

Metabolomics Reveal Nanoplastic-Induced Mitochondrial Damage in Human Liver and Lung Cells

Researchers exposed normal human liver and lung cells to 80-nanometer plastic particles and found that the nanoplastics damaged mitochondria, the energy-producing structures inside cells, without causing widespread cell death. Using metabolomics analysis, they identified specific disruptions to energy metabolism and lipid processing pathways in both cell types. This study reveals a subtle but important way that nanoplastics could impair organ function in humans by disrupting cellular energy production.

2022 Environmental Science & Technology 333 citations
Article Tier 2

Mitochondria as a target of micro- and nanoplastic toxicity

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics damage mitochondria, the energy-producing structures inside our cells. Research shows these tiny plastic particles can cross biological barriers, enter cells, and disrupt mitochondrial function by triggering oxidative stress and altering energy production. Since mitochondrial damage is linked to diseases like cancer, diabetes, and neurodegeneration, this represents a key concern for human health.

2024 Cambridge Prisms Plastics 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring the micro- and nanoplastics–diabetes nexus: Shattered barriers, toxic links, and methodological horizons

This review examines growing evidence that micro- and nanoplastics may contribute to diabetes by disrupting blood sugar regulation, insulin signaling, and fat metabolism through oxidative stress and inflammation. Animal studies show that plastic particles can damage the pancreas, liver, and gut in ways that mirror the development of diabetes, though human studies are still limited. The review calls for more research into whether everyday microplastic exposure could be a hidden factor in the global rise of metabolic diseases.

2025 Environmental Pollution 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Molecular Landscape Remodeling Unravels the Cross-Links of Microplastics-Induced Lipidomic Fluctuations, Nutrient Disorders and Energy Disarrangements

Researchers fed mice polypropylene microplastics chronically and used lipidomics and transcriptomics to show that microplastics accumulated in the liver and disrupted lipid metabolism, cholesterol homeostasis, and redox balance, with high doses causing fibrotic liver changes.

2025 Environment & Health
Article Tier 2

Molecular LandscapeRemodeling Unravels the Cross-Linksof Microplastics-Induced Lipidomic Fluctuations,Nutrient Disorders and Energy Disarrangements

Proteomic and lipidomic profiling of mouse livers after polypropylene microplastic exposure revealed crosstalk between hepatic lipid fluctuations, nutrient metabolism disorders, and energy pathway disarrangements, providing mechanistic insight into microplastic-induced liver toxicity.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Examining the Pathogenesis of MAFLD and the Medicinal Properties of Natural Products from a Metabolic Perspective

This review examines the causes and potential treatments for metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), which affects about two-fifths of the global population. While focused on natural product remedies rather than microplastics, the metabolic pathways discussed, including lipid metabolism disruption and oxidative stress, are the same mechanisms through which microplastics have been shown to damage liver cells. Understanding these pathways helps explain how microplastic exposure could contribute to liver disease.

2024 Metabolites 11 citations