ReviewBiomedicines2023
Microplastics: A Matter of the Heart (and Vascular System).
Review in Biomedicines, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 97 citations in OpenAlex.
- From pollution to palpitations: the heart's silent battle with microplastics.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2025Pooled it
- Mapping Microplastics in Humans: Analysis of Polymer Types, and Shapes in Food and Drinking Water-A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Pooled it
- The effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on cardiovascular disease: mechanisms and perspectives.Nature reviews. Cardiology · 2026Review
- Microplastics and Nanoplastics in the Human Diet: Sources of Exposure, Bioavailability, Toxicokinetics, and Systemic Health Effects.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Membrane Technologies for Microplastics Removal from Wastewater: Recent Progress, Fouling Mechanisms, and Future Perspectives.Membranes · 2026Review
- Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Cardiovascular Disease: An Emerging Cardiovascular Risk Factor.Cardiovascular toxicology · 2026Review
- Mapping the hidden journey of microplastics: Multi-organ deposition patterns and organ-specific health risks revealed by AI-driven analysis.Innovation (Cambridge (Mass.)) · 2026Article
- Organ-specific apoptotic pathways induced by micro- and nanoplastics: a systematic review ofFrontiers in toxicology · 2026Review
- Air pollution and Alzheimer's disease prevention: The science and a prevention plan.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2025Review
- The toxicological impact of PET-MPs exposure on atherosclerosis: insights from network toxicology, molecular docking, and machine learning.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Microplastics, Nanoplastics and Heart Contamination: The Hidden Threat.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Microplastics: State of the Evidence on Health Effects and Public Perception.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2025Review
- Micro-nanoplastic induced cardiovascular disease and dysfunction: a scoping review.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2025Article
- The Role of Artificial Weathering Protocols on Abiotic and Bacterial Degradation of Polyethylene.Polymers · 2025Article
- Sorption, Extraction, and Characterization of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Environmentally Weathered Microplastics, Particulate Organic Matter, Sediment, and Fish Species in the Lavaca-Matagorda Bay System.Environment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2025Article
- Environmental Toxins and Oxidative Stress: The Link to Cardiovascular Diseases.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Exposure of Polystyrene Nano- and Microplastics in Increasingly Complex In Vitro Intestinal Cell Models.Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Virgin and photo-degraded microplastics induce the activation of human vascular smooth muscle cells.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Plastic in seafood: are crustaceans a gateway to microplastic exposure in humans?Science in One Health · 2025Review
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Plastic use dramatically increased over the past few years. Besides obvious benefits, the consequent plastic waste and mismanagement in disposal have caused ecological problems. Plastic abandoned in the environment is prone to segregation, leading to the generation of microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs), which can reach aquatic and terrestrial organisms. MPs/NPs in water can access fish's bodies through the gills, triggering an inflammatory response in loco. Furthermore, from the gills, plastic fragments can be transported within the circulatory system altering blood biochemical parameters and hormone levels and leading to compromised immunocompetence and angiogenesis. In addition, it was also possible to observe an unbalanced ROS production, damage in vascular structure, and enhanced thrombosis. MPs/NPs led to cardiotoxicity, pericardial oedema, and impaired heart rate in fish cardiac tissue. MPs/NPs effects on aquatic organisms pose serious health hazards and ecological consequences because they constitute the food chain for humans. Once present in the mammalian body, plastic particles can interact with circulating cells, eliciting an inflammatory response, with genotoxicity and cytotoxicity of immune cells, enhanced haemolysis, and endothelium adhesion. The interaction of MPs/NPs with plasma proteins allows their transport to distant organs, including the heart. As a consequence of plastic fragment internalisation into cardiomyocytes, oxidative stress was increased, and metabolic parameters were altered. In this scenario, myocardial damage, fibrosis and impaired electrophysiological values were observed. In summary, MPs/NPs are an environmental stressor for cardiac function in living organisms, and a risk assessment of their influence on the cardiovascular system certainly merits further analysis.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.