Microplastics burrow into blood vessels, rapidly accelerating artery-clogging heart disease.

 

 

 

Microplastics burrow into blood vessels, rapidly accelerating artery-clogging heart disease.

New research from the University of California, Riverside indicates that everyday exposure to microplastics may directly accelerate the development of atherosclerosis, the artery-clogging process that underlies heart attacks and strokes. Using lean, low-density lipoprotein receptor-deficient (LDLR-deficient) mice on a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet, researchers exposed both males and females to environmentally relevant doses of microplastics for nine weeks. Male mice showed dramatic increases in plaque buildup—63% in the aortic root and 624% in the brachiocephalic artery—while females did not exhibit significant changes. These effects occurred without weight gain or elevated cholesterol, suggesting that microplastics themselves, rather than traditional risk factors, are directly damaging blood vessels.

 

Mechanistic analyses revealed that microplastics were taken up into arterial plaques and strongly disrupted endothelial cells, which line blood vessels and regulate inflammation and blood flow. Single-cell RNA sequencing showed activation of pro-atherogenic gene programs in endothelial cells from both mice and humans, supporting a common biological response to microplastic exposure across species. The authors argue this provides some of the strongest evidence to date that microplastics are not just markers of pollution in diseased arteries but active contributors to cardiovascular damage, particularly in males. 

 

With microplastics now ubiquitous in food, water, and air, the researchers stress the urgency of reducing exposure and further investigating sex-specific vulnerability and underlying molecular mechanisms.

References (APA style)

Lin, T.-A., Pan, J., Nguyen, M., Ma, Q., Sun, L., Tang, S., Campen, M. J., Chen, H., & Zhou, C. (2025). Microplastic exposure elicits sex-specific atherosclerosis development in lean low-density lipoprotein receptor-deficient mice. *Environment International*.

 

University of California – Riverside. (2025, December 28). Microplastics burrow into blood vessels and fuel heart disease. *SciTechDaily*.