Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Mixtures of polystyrene micro and nanoplastics affects fat and glucose metabolism in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and zebrafish larvae

Exposure to a mixture of micro- and nanoplastics increased fat production and impaired the body's ability to use insulin and process sugar in both cell and zebrafish experiments. The plastic mixture triggered inflammation, boosted fat-storing genes, and suppressed insulin signaling pathways. These findings suggest that microplastic exposure could contribute to obesity and type 2 diabetes.

2025 NanoImpact 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicity of Polystyrene Nanoplastics in the Liver and Intestine of Normal and High-Fat-Diet Juvenile Zebrafish

Researchers exposed juvenile zebrafish to polystyrene nanoplastics combined with a high-fat diet and found that the combination caused gastrointestinal injury and disrupted lipid metabolism. The nanoplastics alone perturbed gut microbiota stability, and the effects were amplified when paired with a high-fat diet. The study suggests that dietary factors may influence the severity of nanoplastic toxicity, highlighting the importance of considering real-world exposure scenarios.

2023 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 13 citations
Article Tier 2

The combined exposure of polystyrene microplastics and high‐fat feeding affects the intestinal pathology damage and microbiome in zebrafish

Researchers exposed zebrafish to polystyrene microplastics combined with a high-fat diet and found that the combination caused more severe intestinal damage and greater disruption of gut bacteria than either exposure alone. The microplastics worsened inflammation and structural damage to the intestinal lining, particularly when paired with the high-fat feed. The study suggests that dietary factors may amplify the harmful gut effects of microplastic ingestion in aquatic organisms.

2024 Journal of Fish Biology 5 citations
Review Tier 2

Polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs): A Review on metabolic disruptions and potential obesogenic implications using -omics approaches based evidences on zebrafish model

This review summarizes growing evidence that polystyrene microplastics can disrupt fat and energy metabolism in zebrafish, potentially contributing to obesity-like effects. The microplastics altered lipid processing, energy balance, and gut bacteria composition through multiple biological pathways. These findings are relevant to human health because they suggest microplastics could be an overlooked factor in the global rise of obesity and metabolic disorders.

2025 Environmental Research 6 citations
Article Tier 2

RETRACTED: Combined effects of a high-fat diet and polyethylene microplastic exposure induce impaired lipid metabolism and locomotor behavior in larvae and adult zebrafish

Note: This paper has been retracted. It originally reported that polyethylene microplastics combined with a high-fat diet worsened fat accumulation and liver damage in zebrafish, resembling nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. While the findings suggested concerning interactions between diet and microplastic exposure, the retraction means these results should be interpreted with caution until replicated by other researchers.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 43 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

Uptake and Accumulation of Polystyrene Microplastics in Zebrafish (Danio rerio) and Toxic Effects in Liver

Researchers exposed zebrafish to polystyrene microplastics of two different sizes and tracked where the particles accumulated in the body. They found that smaller particles (5 micrometers) built up in the gills, liver, and gut, while larger particles (20 micrometers) mainly stayed in the gills and gut. The microplastics caused liver inflammation, oxidative stress, and disrupted fat metabolism, suggesting that ingested microplastics can damage internal organs in fish.

2016 Environmental Science & Technology 1980 citations
Article Tier 2

Lipid-Rich diet protects aquatic vertebrates by reducing polystyrene nanoparticles deposition and alleviating harmful effects from exposure

Researchers showed in zebrafish that polystyrene nanoplastics accumulate selectively in a narrow intestinal segment and alter immune and lipid metabolism gene expression, and that a lipid-rich diet significantly reduced intestinal nanoplastic deposition and partially restored normal transcriptomic profiles.

2025 Aquatic Toxicology
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene microplastic exposure disturbs hepatic glycolipid metabolism at the physiological, biochemical, and transcriptomic levels in adult zebrafish

Researchers exposed adult zebrafish to polystyrene microplastics for 21 days and examined effects on liver metabolism at multiple biological levels. The study found that microplastic exposure caused significant decreases in body weight and disrupted glycolipid metabolism, with reduced levels of key metabolic enzymes and gene expression changes in the liver. Transcriptomic analysis confirmed widespread downregulation of genes related to fatty acid, amino acid, and carbon metabolism.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 237 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

Effects of frying on microplastics load in fish and implications on health

Researchers investigated the effects of polyethylene microplastics on gut microbiota composition in mice fed a high-fat diet, finding that microplastic exposure altered microbial diversity and increased gut permeability. Co-exposure with a high-fat diet amplified metabolic disruption.

2022 Food Frontiers 9 citations
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

Effects of combined exposure to 17α-methyltestosterone and polystyrene microplastics on lipid metabolism and the nervous system in Danio rerio

Researchers exposed zebrafish to a combination of polystyrene microplastics and a synthetic androgen and found significant disruptions to lipid metabolism in the liver and neural function in the brain. The co-exposure caused fatty degeneration of liver cells and altered key signaling pathways involved in nerve communication. The study highlights the compounded risks that arise when aquatic organisms encounter multiple pollutants simultaneously.

2024 The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Long-Term Exposure to Polystyrene Microspheres and High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity in Mice: Evaluating a Role for Microbiota Dysbiosis.

A long-term mouse study examined how chronic exposure to polystyrene microspheres interacts with a high-fat diet to affect obesity-related outcomes, finding that microplastics worsened metabolic disruption and fat accumulation compared to diet alone. The results raise concern that microplastic exposure may be an environmental factor contributing to the global obesity epidemic.

2024 Environmental health perspectives
Article Tier 2

Influence of microplastics on the accumulation and chronic toxic effects of cadmium in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Researchers exposed zebrafish to polystyrene microplastics combined with cadmium for three weeks and found that the presence of microplastics significantly increased cadmium accumulation in the liver, gut, and gills. The combined exposure caused greater oxidative damage, tissue inflammation, and disruption of protective gene activity than either pollutant alone. The study demonstrates that microplastics can enhance the toxicity of heavy metals in fish by acting as carriers that increase the body's uptake of harmful substances.

2018 Chemosphere 461 citations
Article Tier 2

Oral Exposure to Polystyrene Microplastics of Mice on a Normal or High-Fat Diet and Intestinal and Metabolic Outcomes

Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics caused metabolic problems like diabetes and fatty liver disease in mice, but only when combined with a high-fat diet. The high-fat diet appeared to damage the gut lining enough to allow microplastics to deposit in the intestinal wall, triggering inflammation that altered nutrient absorption. This suggests that people with poor diets may be more vulnerable to the harmful effects of microplastic exposure.

2023 Environmental Health Perspectives 115 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-exposure to polystyrene microplastics and perfluorooctanoic acid can exacerbate lipid metabolism disorders and liver damage in adult zebrafish

Researchers exposed zebrafish to polystyrene microplastics and the persistent pollutant PFOA separately and together for 28 days, finding that combined exposure caused greater intestinal barrier breakdown, liver damage, lipid metabolism disruption, and gut microbiome dysbiosis than either contaminant alone — raising concerns about nonalcoholic fatty liver disease risk from co-occurring plastic and chemical pollution.

2025 Journal of Environmental Sciences 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Proinflammatory properties and lipid disturbance of polystyrene microplastics in the livers of mice with acute colitis

Researchers studied the effects of polystyrene microplastics on the livers of mice fed a high-fat diet and found that the particles triggered significant inflammatory responses and disrupted lipid metabolism. The microplastics worsened fat accumulation in the liver and activated inflammatory signaling pathways. The findings suggest that microplastic exposure combined with a high-fat diet may amplify liver damage and metabolic disturbances.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 202 citations
Article Tier 2

Determination of Bisphenol Compounds and the Bioaccumulation after Co-Exposure with Polyethylene Microplastics in Zebrafish

Researchers developed a method to measure how bisphenol A and bisphenol S accumulate in zebrafish tissues when microplastics are also present. They found that microplastics increased the accumulation of these hormone-disrupting chemicals in fish tissues, with BPA building up more than BPS. The evidence indicates that microplastics can act as carriers that enhance the uptake of harmful chemicals by aquatic organisms.

2024 Toxics 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene bead ingestion promotes adiposity and cardiometabolic disease in mice

Researchers fed mice polystyrene microplastic beads and found that ingestion promoted fat accumulation and markers of cardiometabolic disease, including changes in cholesterol levels and inflammatory markers. The microplastics appeared to disrupt metabolic processes related to fat storage and energy regulation. The study suggests that dietary microplastic exposure may contribute to obesity and cardiovascular risk factors, adding a new dimension to concerns about microplastics in the food supply.

2022 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 106 citations