Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Phenotypic and Gene Expression Alterations in Aquatic Organisms Exposed to Microplastics

This review summarizes research on how microplastics affect aquatic animals at the genetic level, covering changes in hatching, development, and growth. Microplastics, especially when combined with other pollutants, trigger abnormal gene activity in antioxidant and stress-response systems in fish and other water organisms. These genetic disruptions in aquatic life are relevant to human health because affected organisms can enter the food chain through seafood.

2025 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Experimental Approaches for Characterizing the Endocrine-Disrupting Effects of Environmental Chemicals in Fish

This review examines experimental approaches used to characterize the endocrine-disrupting effects of environmental chemicals, including microplastics, in fish. Researchers summarize methods spanning molecular, cellular, and whole-organism levels, including gene expression analysis, hormone measurements, and reproductive assays. The study provides a framework for evaluating how pollutants interfere with hormonal regulation in aquatic vertebrates and highlights the value of fish as sentinel species.

2021 Frontiers in Endocrinology 69 citations
Article Tier 2

Role of Environmental Pollution in Altering Reproductive Cycles in Freshwater Fishes

Not relevant to microplastics — this review examines how industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, and pesticides in freshwater ecosystems disrupt reproductive cycles in fish, covering hormonal imbalances and population effects from endocrine-disrupting chemicals broadly.

2023 Journal for Research in Applied Sciences and Biotechnology
Article Tier 2

The effect of environmental stressors on growth in fish and its endocrine control

This review examines how environmental stressors, including pollution and climate change, affect fish growth through hormonal disruption. Pollutants like microplastics and heavy metals can interfere with the growth hormone system, leading to stunted development and reproductive problems in fish. These effects on fish health are relevant to humans because they can reduce the quality and safety of fish as a food source.

2023 Frontiers in Endocrinology 112 citations
Article Tier 2

The effects of environmental changes on the endocrine regulation of feeding in fishes

This review examines how environmental changes, including pollution and temperature shifts, disrupt the hormonal systems that control feeding and digestion in fish. Pollutants like microplastics and heavy metals can interfere with appetite-regulating hormones, leading to changes in feeding behavior and energy balance. These effects on fish health are relevant to humans because disrupted fish growth and development can reduce the nutritional quality and safety of fish as a food source.

2024 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 17 citations
Article Tier 2

The influence of microplastics and halogenated contaminants in feed on toxicokinetics and gene expression in European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax)

Researchers studied how microplastics and halogenated contaminants in fish feed affected the toxicokinetics of those contaminants, finding that microplastics in feed altered how persistent organic pollutants were absorbed and distributed in fish tissues.

2018 Environmental Research 147 citations
Article Tier 2

The role of environmental stress in fish health: A review

This review examines how environmental stressors including temperature changes, pesticide contamination, microplastics, and algal blooms affect fish health. Researchers found that these factors substantially influence fish growth, reproduction, respiration, and metabolic function. The study emphasizes the need for new strategies to address the growing impact of environmental changes on aquatic ecosystems and the global fish economy.

2025 GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Molecular responses to pollution stress in glass eels (Anguilla anguilla): Gene expression changes associated with varying contamination levels and temperature across estuaries

Researchers measured gene expression in European eel glass eels entering estuaries with varying levels of microplastic and heavy metal contamination, finding that pollution and temperature shifts alter stress-response and metabolic gene expression in ways that may impair survival.

2025 Aquatic Toxicology
Article Tier 2

Evaluation of Detoxification‐Related Gene Expression, Oxidative Stress Biomarkers, and Blood Biochemical Parameters in Common Carp ( Cyprinus carpio ) Co‐Exposed to Polyethylene Microplastics and Deltamethrin

Researchers investigated whether polyethylene microplastics worsen the toxic effects of the insecticide deltamethrin in juvenile common carp over a 30-day exposure. The study found that co-exposure to microplastics and deltamethrin affected detoxification-related gene expression, oxidative stress biomarkers, and blood biochemistry, suggesting that microplastics can modify the bioavailability and toxicity of co-occurring pesticides in fish.

2026 Journal of Applied Toxicology
Article Tier 2

Transcriptome analysis of discus fish (Symphysodon haraldi) skin and brain to identify genes involved in ‘milk’ secretion during parental care

Researchers analyzed the gene expression profiles of discus fish skin and brain to understand the molecular basis of their unique parental behavior of feeding larvae with skin mucus. This is a fish biology study with no direct relevance to microplastics or environmental contamination.

2020 Authorea
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Effects of microplastics on the toxicity of co-existing pollutants to fish: A meta-analysis

Meta-analysis of 1,380 biological endpoints from 55 studies found that microplastics in co-existing pollutant solutions significantly increased toxicity to fish beyond what the pollutants caused alone, particularly elevating immune system damage, metabolic disruption, and oxidative stress. The effect depended on fish life stage and microplastic size, but not on pollutant or polymer type.

2023 Water Research 81 citations
Article Tier 2

Emerging environmental stressors and oxidative pathways in marine organisms: Current knowledge on regulation mechanisms and functional effects

This review summarized current knowledge on how emerging environmental pollutants including microplastics, heavy metals, and other stressors trigger oxidative stress in marine organisms, examining regulatory mechanisms from pre-transcriptional to catalytic levels.

2021 Biocell 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of zebrafish exposure to high-density polyethylene and polystyrene microplastics at molecular and histological levels

This study exposed zebrafish to high-density polyethylene and polystyrene microplastics and used genomic analysis to identify which biological pathways were most affected, finding widespread disruption of immune function, metabolism, and stress response genes. The transcriptomic approach reveals that different plastic types activate distinct molecular stress responses in fish.

2018 Use Siena air (University of Siena)
Article Tier 2

Impact of Heavy Metals and Pesticide Contamination on Aquatic Environment and Fish Health: Challenges and Bioremediation Strategies

This review examines the impact of heavy metals and pesticide contamination on aquatic environments and fish health, with attention to how microplastics interact with these traditional pollutants. The authors discuss how pollution from industrialization affects fish physiology and disrupts ecosystem balance. The study highlights bioremediation approaches as sustainable strategies for addressing contaminated aquatic environments.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Exposure to polystyrene microplastics induced gene modulated biological responses in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Researchers exposed zebrafish to polystyrene microplastics and analyzed changes in gene expression related to immune response, oxidative stress, and endocrine function. They found that microplastic exposure modulated genes involved in inflammation and detoxification pathways, indicating biological stress at the molecular level. The study provides evidence that microplastics can trigger gene-level disruptions in fish even before visible physical symptoms appear.

2020 Chemosphere 167 citations
Article Tier 2

The effects of exposure to microplastics on grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) at the physiological, biochemical, and transcriptomic levels

Researchers exposed grass carp to microplastics at two concentrations for 21 days and observed liver damage, inhibited growth, and increased oxidative stress. Transcriptome analysis revealed over 1,500 differentially expressed genes related to immune response, metabolism, and cellular stress pathways. The study suggests that microplastic exposure can trigger broad physiological and molecular disruptions in freshwater fish.

2021 Chemosphere 54 citations
Article Tier 2

Polyethylene microbeads induce transcriptional responses with tissue-dependent patterns in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

Researchers exposed fish to polyethylene microbeads and measured gene expression across tissues, finding tissue-dependent transcriptional responses that suggest microplastic ingestion affects multiple physiological systems in distinct ways.

2017 Journal of Molluscan Studies 90 citations
Article Tier 2

Transcriptional effects of polyethylene microplastics ingestion in developing zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Researchers exposed developing zebrafish to polyethylene microplastics and used transcriptomic analysis to identify changes in gene expression related to immune function, lipid metabolism, and oxidative stress. The study suggests that even at relatively low concentrations, ingested microplastics can alter key biological pathways during early fish development.

2018 Environmental Pollution 176 citations
Article Tier 2

Some Behavioural and Physiological Effects of Plastics (Polyethylene) on Fish

Researchers examined behavioral and physiological effects of polyethylene microplastics on fish, finding that plastic exposure disrupted endocrine function, altered behavior, and impaired normal development and reproduction.

2023 Tropical Aquatic and Soil Pollution 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Ecotoxicological effects of emerging pollutants (nanomaterials and microplastics) on fish biology

This review compiles current knowledge on how emerging pollutants including nanomaterials and microplastics affect fish biology, covering impacts on physiology, behavior, and molecular function. Researchers highlight that advanced methods like genomics and micro-CT imaging are revealing new details about how these pollutants damage fish at the cellular and tissue level. The study underscores the growing threat these contaminants pose to aquatic ecosystems and the fish species within them.

2025 Animal Reports 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Decoding the molecular concerto: Toxicotranscriptomic evaluation of microplastic and nanoplastic impacts on aquatic organisms

This review summarizes existing research on how microplastics and nanoplastics affect gene activity in aquatic organisms including fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. The studies show that these tiny particles disrupt genes involved in immune defense, stress response, reproduction, and metabolism. Understanding these molecular-level changes is important because they reveal how microplastics could cause long-term health problems in animals that enter the human food chain.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Drenched in microplastic environment: Physiological and metabolic disruptions in fish

This literature review synthesized studies on the physiological and metabolic disruptions microplastics cause in fish, finding impacts across multiple organ systems including the liver, gut, gills, and reproductive organs depending on particle type and exposure duration.

2025 International Journal of Biology Sciences
Article Tier 2

Effects Of Microplastics On Fish Physiology

This review examines how microplastic exposure affects fish physiology, covering accumulation patterns in different tissues, effects on organ function including liver and gill damage, antioxidant responses, and potential reproductive health consequences from both solo and combined contaminant exposures.

2025 Spectrum of Emerging Sciences
Article Tier 2

Assessment of microplastic-sorbed contaminant bioavailability through analysis of biomarker gene expression in larval zebrafish

Researchers examined whether contaminants sorbed to microplastics become bioavailable when ingested by larval zebrafish, using phenanthrene and ethinylestradiol as test chemicals. The study found that microplastics can alter the bioavailability of co-contaminants, as evidenced by changes in biomarker gene expression in the fish larvae.

2017 Marine Pollution Bulletin 183 citations