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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Impact of microplastics exposure on liver health: A comprehensive meta-analysis
ClearHazards 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Effects of micro/nanoplastics on oxidative damage and serum biochemical parameters in rats and mice: a meta-analysis
A meta-analysis of 36 studies in rats and mice found that micro/nanoplastics significantly increase oxidative stress markers (ROS, MDA) and liver enzymes (ALT, AST) while depleting antioxidant defenses (SOD, GSH, GPx, CAT). Smaller particles administered orally over longer durations caused the most pronounced damage, with the liver showing the highest elevations in biochemical stress markers.
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.
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.
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 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.
Hepatic multi-level responses to polyethylene microplastics in Lateolabrax maculatus: Insights from transcriptomics, antioxidant enzyme activity, and histopathology
Researchers exposed spotted sea bass to diets containing polyethylene microplastics for 45 days and found multiple levels of liver damage, including altered gene expression, reduced antioxidant enzyme activity, and visible tissue changes. A subsequent depuration period showed partial but incomplete recovery. The study suggests that chronic microplastic exposure through contaminated feed may pose significant risks to liver health in commercially farmed fish species.
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.
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.
Microplastic Presence in the Digestive Tract of Pearly Razorfish Xyrichtys novacula Causes Oxidative Stress in Liver Tissue
Microplastics were found in 89% of pearly razorfish (Xyrichtys novacula) specimens from the Balearic Islands, with fish carrying more than 4 MPs showing elevated activities of glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione S-transferase in liver tissue, indicating oxidative stress and detoxification responses.
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.
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.
Subchronic oral exposure to polystyrene microplastics affects hepatic lipid metabolism, inflammation, and oxidative balance in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata)
Gilthead seabream fed polystyrene microplastics for 21 days developed signs of liver damage including fat buildup, inflammation, and oxidative stress -- changes similar to early-stage fatty liver disease. Since fish liver responds to microplastics in ways comparable to mammalian livers, these findings raise concerns about what chronic microplastic exposure might do to liver health in humans and other animals.
Microplastic-contaminated antibiotics as an emerging threat to mammalian liver: enhanced oxidative and inflammatory damages
Researchers used a mouse model to study what happens when microplastics contaminated with antibiotics are ingested together, simulating real-world food chain exposure. The study found that the combination caused enhanced oxidative stress and inflammatory damage in the liver compared to either pollutant alone. The findings suggest that microplastics carrying adsorbed antibiotics may pose a greater threat to liver health than microplastics or antibiotics individually.
Exposure to microplastics during pregnancy and fetal liver function
Researchers detected microplastics in the placentas of nearly 90% of over 1,000 pregnant women and found that higher placental microplastic levels were linked to elevated liver enzymes in umbilical cord blood. This suggests that microplastics crossing the placenta may affect fetal liver function before birth, raising concerns about the health effects of prenatal plastic exposure.
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.
Long-term exposure to polystyrene microplastics induces hepatotoxicity by altering lipid signatures in C57BL/6J mice
Researchers exposed mice to tiny polystyrene particles for 16 weeks and found the plastics accumulated in their livers, disrupting fat metabolism and energy production. The microplastics altered lipid profiles and interfered with key enzymes involved in cellular energy cycles. The study suggests that long-term microplastic exposure may contribute to liver damage through metabolic disruption.
Polyethylene microplastics induced gut microbiota dysbiosis leading to liver injury via the TLR2/NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway in mice
Mice exposed to polyethylene microplastics developed liver damage that was traced back to disrupted gut bacteria -- the microplastics increased harmful bacteria while decreasing beneficial ones, triggering inflammation through the TLR2/NF-kB/NLRP3 immune pathway. This study provides new evidence that microplastics may harm the liver not just through direct contact, but indirectly by first throwing off the balance of gut bacteria.
Hepatotoxic of polystyrene microplastics in aged mice: Focus on the role of gastrointestinal transformation and AMPK/FoxO pathway
This study found that polystyrene microplastics caused liver damage in aged mice, with the particles undergoing chemical changes as they passed through the digestive system that may have made them more harmful. The microplastics disrupted key metabolic pathways in the liver, triggered inflammation, and caused DNA damage through oxidative stress. The findings are especially concerning because older individuals may be more vulnerable to the liver-damaging effects of microplastic exposure.