Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Effect of polyethylene microplastics on oxidative stress and histopathology damages in Litopenaeus vannamei

Researchers injected fluorescent polyethylene microspheres into Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) and found that microplastic exposure increased oxidative stress markers and caused histopathological damage to hepatopancreas and gill tissue, even at relatively low concentrations.

2021 Environmental Pollution 122 citations
Article Tier 2

Oxidative effects of consuming microplastics in different tissues of white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

Researchers fed white shrimp diets containing polystyrene microplastics and found the particles accumulated in gills, muscles, and the hepatopancreas. The microplastics triggered oxidative stress, DNA damage, and lipid damage in multiple tissues, along with visible tissue abnormalities including edema and immune cell infiltration. The study demonstrates that dietary microplastic exposure can cause widespread oxidative harm across different organ systems in commercially important shellfish.

2023 Marine Pollution Bulletin 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Tissue accumulation of polystyrene microplastics causes oxidative stress, hepatopancreatic injury and metabolome alterations in Litopenaeus vannamei

Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics accumulated in shrimp organs, especially the liver-like hepatopancreas, causing growth problems, abnormal swimming, and oxidative stress. Higher microplastic concentrations led to greater tissue damage and disrupted key metabolic pathways including sugar, fat, and amino acid processing. The study expands our understanding of how microplastics affect commercially important seafood species.

2023 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 50 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic-Contaminated Feed Interferes with Antioxidant Enzyme and Lysozyme Gene Expression of Pacific White Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) Leading to Hepatopancreas Damage and Increased Mortality

Researchers fed Pacific white shrimp diets contaminated with high-density polyethylene microplastics and observed dose-dependent immune suppression and organ damage. The microplastics disrupted the expression of antioxidant enzyme and lysozyme genes and caused significant histopathological changes in the hepatopancreas. The study demonstrates that dietary microplastic exposure can compromise the immune defenses of commercially important crustaceans, potentially increasing their susceptibility to disease.

2022 Animals 48 citations
Article Tier 2

Size-dependent toxicological effects and mechanisms of PET microplastics in Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei)

This study exposed Pacific white shrimp to PET microplastics of three different sizes for 21 days and found that smaller particles caused the most harm, reducing growth and swimming ability while causing significant tissue damage. Larger microplastics were less harmful, and the shrimp showed some ability to recover from their effects. The findings are important for aquaculture and food safety because they show that microplastic particle size matters significantly when assessing health risks to commercially important seafood species.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics on gene expression to nonspecific immune system in pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei).

This study found that high-density polyethylene microplastic particles in shrimp feed suppressed immune defense genes in Pacific white shrimp and caused intestinal and gill tissue damage at concentrations well below lethal levels. The findings suggest that microplastic exposure could compromise immune function and health in farmed crustaceans.

2022 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene nanoplastics induce lipid metabolism disorder and alter fatty acid composition in the hepatopancreas of Pacific whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

Researchers exposed Pacific whiteleg shrimp to different concentrations of polystyrene nanoplastics for 28 days and found significant disruption to fat metabolism in the shrimp's digestive organ. Higher concentrations caused tissue damage, reduced protein and fat content, and altered the activity of enzymes that control how the body processes fats. Since shrimp is a widely consumed seafood, these findings raise questions about how nanoplastic contamination in aquaculture could affect the nutritional quality and safety of shellfish for human consumption.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Ingestion and toxic impacts of weathered polyethylene (wPE) microplastics and stress defensive responses in whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei)

Researchers exposed whiteleg shrimp to varying concentrations of environmentally weathered polyethylene microplastics to assess ingestion rates and toxic effects. The study found that weathered microplastics caused dose-dependent changes in growth and antioxidant enzyme activity, indicating that real-world weathered microplastics may be more harmful to commercially important shrimp species than pristine laboratory particles.

2022 Chemosphere 41 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) microplastics exposure on Penaeus vannamei survival

Laboratory bioassays showed that high-density polyethylene microplastics were acutely toxic to Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) postlarvae at concentrations above 62.5 mg/L, with 100% mortality at the highest dose, and confirmed ingestion via fluorescence microscopy.

2025 Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research
Article Tier 2

Effects of nanoplastics on the gut microbiota of Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

Researchers fed polystyrene nanoplastics to Pacific white shrimp and found significant damage to their gut bacteria, intestinal structure, and immune system. The nanoplastics increased harmful bacteria like Vibrio while reducing beneficial species, and visibly damaged the intestinal lining. Since shrimp are widely consumed seafood, these gut health disruptions raise questions about how nanoplastic contamination in farmed and wild shrimp could affect both the animals and the people who eat them.

2024 PeerJ 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics induces apoptosis, autophagy, histopathological damage, and intestinal microbiota dysbiosis of the Pacific whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

Exposing Pacific white shrimp to nanoplastics caused intestinal damage, cell death, disrupted immune function, and increased the abundance of harmful gut bacteria. Higher concentrations of nanoplastics led to more severe effects, including visible damage to the intestinal lining and formation of autophagosomes (cellular waste structures). These findings add to growing evidence that nanoplastic contamination in seafood farming can compromise the health of organisms that many people eat.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Ingestion of weathered high density polyethylene microplastics-induced oxidative stress and modulation of antioxidant responses in post larval stages of Litopenaeus vannamei

Post-larval whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) exposed to weathered high-density polyethylene microplastics showed elevated oxidative stress markers and upregulated antioxidant enzyme activity, demonstrating that even environmentally weathered PE particles remain toxic to marine invertebrates at early life stages.

2025 Frontiers in Marine Science
Article Tier 2

Microplastics weaken the exoskeletal mechanical properties of Pacific whiteleg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

Researchers discovered that environmentally realistic levels of microplastics weakened the shells of whiteleg shrimp by disrupting the structure of chitin, the main building material in crustacean exoskeletons. The microplastics also embedded in the shell surface and altered key genes and metabolites involved in shell formation. Since shrimp is a widely consumed seafood, this finding raises questions about both the quality of farmed shrimp and the potential for microplastic transfer to human consumers.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Ingestion and adherence of microplastics by estuarine mysid shrimp

Researchers investigated how estuarine mysid shrimp ingest and accumulate microplastics both internally and on their external body surfaces. The study found microplastics in the shrimp's bodies and fecal pellets, and feeding experiments revealed that these organisms readily consume plastic particles, raising concerns about microplastic transfer through marine food webs.

2024 Marine Environmental Research 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic contamination in wild shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei from the Huizache-Caimanero Coastal lagoon, SE Gulf of California

Researchers found microplastics — predominantly fibers and fragments — in the gastrointestinal tracts, gills, and exoskeletons of wild shrimp from a Gulf of California coastal lagoon, with the gut containing far higher concentrations than other tissues, raising food safety concerns for human consumers.

2022 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Weathered High Density Polyethylene Microplastics Induce Proximate Imbalance in the Post Larval Stages of Litopenaeus vannamei

Researchers exposed post-larval shrimp to weathered high-density polyethylene microplastics for 45 days and measured changes in nutritional composition including protein, fat, fiber, and ash content. All proximate constituents decreased significantly during exposure, and a 15-day recovery period showed no signs of recovery from the microplastic-induced stress. The study suggests that microplastic contamination can impair the growth and nutritional quality of commercially important shrimp species.

2025 UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Size-dependent toxicological effects of polystyrene microplastics in the shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei using a histomorphology, microbiome, and metabolic approach

Researchers exposed white leg shrimp to polystyrene microplastics of four different sizes and found that toxicity was strongly size-dependent, with smaller particles causing greater tissue damage to guts and gills. Smaller microplastics were also more readily ingested and bioavailable to the shrimp. However, larger particles triggered different responses in gut microbiome diversity and metabolic pathways, indicating that microplastic size influences the type and severity of biological effects.

2022 Environmental Pollution 65 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic contamination in brown shrimp (Crangon crangon, Linnaeus 1758) from coastal waters of the Southern North Sea and Channel area

Researchers examined brown shrimp caught from the North Sea and found microplastics in their digestive tracts, documenting contamination in a commercially important crustacean consumed widely by humans in northern Europe.

2015 Marine Pollution Bulletin 725 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) microplastic exposure on physiology and metabolic profiles of Litopenaeus vannamei

Researchers exposed Pacific white shrimp to biodegradable PHB microplastics and found that while short-term exposure up to 100 mg/L showed no acute toxicity, long-term feeding with higher concentrations led to reduced survival, slower growth, and changes in metabolic pathways. The metabolic disruptions included alterations in amino acid and lipid metabolism, suggesting the shrimp's bodies were under significant stress. The findings indicate that even biodegradable plastics can have meaningful negative effects on marine aquaculture species over time.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Insight into the immune and microbial response of the white-leg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei to microplastics

Researchers exposed white-leg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) to different concentrations of microplastics for 48 hours and measured immune and microbial responses. The study found that high microplastic concentrations significantly reduced survival rates, altered immune-related gene expression, and disrupted the gut microbial community, suggesting that microplastic pollution may compromise shrimp immune function.

2021 Marine Environmental Research 51 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in surface water and tissue of white leg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, in a cultured pond in Nakhon Pathom Province, Central Thailand

Researchers detected microplastics in the surface water and edible tissues of white leg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) farmed in Thailand, raising food safety concerns about microplastic contamination in a commercially important aquaculture species consumed widely across Asia.

2023 AIMS environmental science 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Detection of Microplastics by Various Types of Whiteleg Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in the Korean Sea

Researchers detected microplastics in whiteleg shrimp from Korean seas, finding 1.73 to 3.8 particles per 10 grams across different shrimp sizes, with fibers and fragments of various polymer types predominantly concentrated in the heads and intestines.

2022 Separations 20 citations
Article Tier 2

The physiological response of the clam Ruditapes philippinarum and scallop Chlamys farreri to varied concentrations of microplastics exposure

Researchers exposed two types of shellfish (clams and scallops) to polyethylene and PET microplastics and found that both species accumulated the particles in their digestive glands and gills. The exposure caused oxidative stress, disrupted energy and fat metabolism, and damaged tissue, with PET generally being more toxic than polyethylene. Since these are commonly eaten shellfish, the findings raise concerns about microplastic contamination affecting the safety of seafood for human consumers.

2024 Marine Pollution Bulletin 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of Microplastics on the Growth and the Intestinal Microbiota Composition of Brine Shrimp

Researchers exposed brine shrimp to polyethylene and polystyrene microplastics and found that both types significantly reduced growth rates, with body length decreasing by 15-18%. The study also revealed that microplastic ingestion altered the gut microbiota composition, increasing microbial diversity and shifting the balance of key bacterial groups in the shrimp intestines.

2021 Frontiers in Microbiology 52 citations