Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Effects of polystyrene microplastics on the composition of the microbiome and metabolism in larval zebrafish

Researchers exposed larval zebrafish to two sizes of polystyrene microplastics and found significant changes in gut microbiome composition and metabolic activity. The microplastics altered the abundance and diversity of gut bacteria and disrupted metabolic pathways important for development. The study suggests that early-life exposure to microplastics could have meaningful biological consequences by reshaping the gut environment of developing organisms.

2018 Chemosphere 472 citations
Article Tier 2

Developmental toxicity of functionalized polystyrene microplastics and their inhibitory effects on fin regeneration in zebrafish

Researchers exposed zebrafish to polystyrene microplastics with different surface modifications and found that all types caused developmental toxicity, including increased mortality, reduced body length, and impaired swimming ability. The amino-modified particles were generally the most harmful, also inhibiting fin regeneration after injury. The study suggests that surface chemistry plays a critical role in determining how microplastics interact with biological systems.

2025 Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C Toxicology & Pharmacology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

The impact of amine and carboxyl functionalised microplastics on the physiology of daphnids

Researchers investigated how surface-functionalized microplastics (amine and carboxyl groups) affect daphnids, finding that functionalization altered ingestion rates, gut transit, and physiological responses including reproduction and swimming behavior, demonstrating that surface chemistry significantly influences microplastic toxicity.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Dysregulation of gut health in zebrafish by differentially charged nanoplastic exposure: an integrated analysis of histopathology, immunology, and microbial informatics

Researchers studied how nanoplastics with different surface charges affect gut health in zebrafish using histopathology, immunology, and microbial analysis. The study found that gut damage and microflora disturbance caused by nanoplastic ingestion significantly depended on the surface functional groups of the particles.

2023 Environmental Science Nano 22 citations
Article Tier 2

[Effects of Microplastics on Embryo Hatching and Intestinal Accumulation in Larval Zebrafish Danio rerio].

Researchers examined the effects of two sizes of polystyrene microplastics (10 µm and 0.5 µm) on embryo hatching rates and intestinal accumulation in fish larvae, finding that the smaller submicron particles accumulated more readily in intestinal tissue, raising concerns about early developmental exposure.

2021 PubMed 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene microplastics induce gut microbiome and metabolome changes in Javanese medaka fish (Oryzias javanicus Bleeker, 1854)

Researchers found that polystyrene microplastic exposure altered gut microbiome composition and metabolic profiles in Javanese medaka fish, with effects on amino acid and lipid metabolism pathways suggesting microplastics can disrupt gut health in aquatic organisms.

2022 Toxicology Reports 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics alter development, behavior, and innate immunity responses following bacterial infection during zebrafish embryo-larval development

Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics altered zebrafish larval development, behavior, and innate immune responses in a timing-dependent manner, with early embryonic exposure through the egg chorion amplifying susceptibility to subsequent bacterial infection.

2022 Chemosphere 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Transfer of Polystyrene Microplastics with Different Functional Groups in the Aquatic Food Chain

Researchers investigated how polystyrene microplastics with different surface functional groups accumulate and transfer through an aquatic food chain, finding that surface chemistry significantly influences microplastic uptake and trophic transfer between organisms.

2023 Journal of Physics Conference Series 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of polyethylene microplastics on the microbiome and metabolism in larval zebrafish

Researchers exposed zebrafish embryos to polyethylene microplastics for seven days and found significant disruptions to their gut bacteria and metabolic function. The microplastics altered the balance of key bacterial groups in the gut, increasing potentially harmful species while decreasing beneficial ones. Metabolic analysis revealed changes in fat, cholesterol, and sugar processing, suggesting that early-life microplastic exposure can disturb both the microbiome and metabolic development in fish.

2021 Environmental Pollution 176 citations
Article Tier 2

Realistic microplastics harness bacterial presence and promote impairments in early zebrafish embryos: Behavioral, developmental, and transcriptomic approaches.

Researchers exposed zebrafish embryos to realistic microplastic fragments and fibers from bottles and textiles, both alone and combined with a bacterial pathogen. They found that microplastics adhered to egg surfaces and accelerated hatching, while fragments were more harmful to development than fibers. The study provides new insights into how microplastics interact with environmental pathogens to affect early life stages of aquatic organisms.

2024 Chemosphere 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Differential developmental and proinflammatory responses of zebrafish embryo to repetitive exposure of biodigested polyamide and polystyrene microplastics

Researchers found that polyamide and polystyrene microplastics undergo very different changes when exposed to digestive fluids, with polyamide breaking down significantly while polystyrene remains largely intact. When zebrafish embryos were repeatedly exposed to these digested microplastics, both types caused developmental problems and inflammation, but through different biological mechanisms. The study suggests that how microplastics are transformed during digestion may be just as important as the original particle when assessing health risks.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastic contamination: Impact on zebrafish liver metabolism and implications for aquatic environmental health

Zebrafish exposed to polystyrene nanoparticles for 28 days showed significant disruptions in liver metabolism, including altered fat processing, signs of inflammation, oxidative stress, and DNA damage. Notably, at lower doses the liver's detox enzymes appeared to break down the nanoplastics themselves, while higher doses overwhelmed these defenses and caused more severe injury.

2024 Environment International 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicity of nanoplastics for zebrafish embryos, what we know and where to go next

This review integrates findings from studies on how polystyrene nanoplastics affect zebrafish embryo development, a widely used model for understanding toxicity. Researchers found that the functional coating on nanoplastic surfaces had a greater influence on toxic effects than particle size or concentration alone. The study highlights that surface chemistry is a critical and often overlooked factor in nanoplastic toxicity, and calls for more standardized study designs to improve comparability across research.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 105 citations
Article Tier 2

Comparison of metabolome profiles in zebrafish (Danio rerio) intestine induced by polystyrene microplastics with different sizes

Researchers compared metabolic profiles in zebrafish intestines after exposure to polystyrene microplastics of different sizes, finding that smaller particles caused more severe metabolic disruption including altered lipid metabolism and amino acid pathways in a size-dependent manner.

2022 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene nano/microplastics induce microbiota dysbiosis, oxidative damage, and innate immune disruption in zebrafish

Researchers exposed zebrafish to polystyrene particles of two different sizes and found that both nano- and micro-sized plastics disrupted gut bacteria, caused oxidative damage, and altered immune responses. The severity of effects depended on particle size and concentration, with smaller particles and higher doses causing more harm. The study suggests that plastic particles in waterways may pose a broader threat to fish health than previously understood, affecting digestion, stress defenses, and immunity simultaneously.

2022 Microbial Pathogenesis 86 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene microplastics induce microbiota dysbiosis and inflammation in the gut of adult zebrafish

Researchers exposed adult zebrafish to polystyrene microplastics of two different sizes for 14 days and found significant disruptions to the gut microbiome, including shifts in key bacterial populations. Smaller microplastic particles also triggered inflammatory responses in the gut, with elevated levels of inflammatory markers at both the gene and protein level. The study suggests that microplastic ingestion can disturb gut bacteria balance and cause intestinal inflammation in aquatic organisms.

2018 Environmental Pollution 801 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics induce intestinal inflammation, oxidative stress, and disorders of metabolome and microbiome in zebrafish

Researchers exposed zebrafish to polystyrene microplastics for 21 days and found significant intestinal inflammation, oxidative stress, and disruption of both the gut microbiome and metabolic processes. The microplastics altered the balance of beneficial and harmful gut bacteria and changed the levels of key metabolites involved in energy and amino acid metabolism. The study provides detailed evidence that microplastic ingestion can cause widespread disruption to gut health in aquatic organisms.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 898 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: A tissue-specific threat to microbial community and biomarkers of discus fish (Symphysodon aequifasciatus)

Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics cause tissue-specific effects in discus fish, inhibiting growth, altering microbial communities in skin, gills, and intestine, and disrupting biomarker responses in a concentration-dependent manner after 28 days of exposure.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 47 citations
Article Tier 2

Growth and membrane stress responses in E. coli and Acinetobacter sp. upon exposure to functionalized polystyrene microplastics

Researchers exposed E. coli and Acinetobacter bacteria to polystyrene microplastics with different surface chemistries, finding that surface functionalization strongly influenced MP toxicity, with some functionalized particles disrupting bacterial membrane integrity and biofilm formation more than non-functionalized particles.

2025 Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
Article Tier 2

Morphometric effects of various weathered and virgin/pure microplastics on sac fry zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Researchers exposed sac fry zebrafish (Danio rerio) to weathered and virgin microplastics of various polymer types and found significant morphometric developmental effects, with weathered plastics generally causing greater biological harm than virgin counterparts due to differences in surface chemistry and plasticizer content.

2021 AIMS environmental science 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Amino modifications exacerbate the developmental abnormalities of polystyrene microplastics via mitochondria-mediated apoptosis pathway in zebrafish larvae

Researchers found that adding amino functional groups to polystyrene microplastics significantly increased their toxicity to developing zebrafish compared to unmodified particles. The amino-modified microplastics caused greater oxidative damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, and increased cell death in zebrafish larvae at environmentally relevant concentrations. The study suggests that surface modifications on microplastics, which can occur through environmental weathering, may make them substantially more harmful to aquatic life.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Chronic Exposure of Adult Zebrafish to Polyethylene and Polyester-based Microplastics: Metabolomic and Gut Microbiome Alterations Reflecting Dysbiosis and Resilience

Researchers exposed adult zebrafish to polyethylene and polyester microplastics at environmentally relevant concentrations and found significant disruptions to metabolic pathways and gut microbiome composition. Polyethylene primarily affected cell membrane compounds and inflammation-related metabolites, while polyester altered lipid metabolism and gut bacterial interactions. The study reveals that chronic microplastic exposure can cause subtle but meaningful shifts in fish metabolism and gut health, even at low concentrations.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 9 citations
Article Tier 2

[Accumulation and Clearance of Polystyrene Microplastics in Brine Shrimp and the Responses of Microbiome and Metabolism].

Researchers exposed brine shrimp (Artemia salina) to polystyrene microplastics of different sizes and concentrations under varying nutritional conditions and analyzed microbiome and metabolic responses. Accumulation and clearance were concentration-dependent, while nutritional status modulated MP uptake; combined microbiome and metabolomics analysis revealed disruptions in microbial community composition and metabolic function.

2025 PubMed
Article Tier 2

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of accumulation and biodistribution of polystyrene nanoplastics in zebrafish (Danio rerio) via artificial freshwater

Researchers developed MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry methods to accurately track polystyrene nanoplastic accumulation and biodistribution across zebrafish tissues after waterborne exposure, enabling precise quantitative analysis of nanoplastic uptake.

2023 Environmental Science Nano 8 citations