Curr Cardiol Rep. 2025 Nov 27;27(1):159. doi: 10.1007/s11886-025-02320-w.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To provide clinicians with a concise introduction of microplastics potential role as a cardiovascular risk factor.
RECENT FINDINGS: Microplastics have been identified in human cardiovascular tissues. In vitro and animal-based studies associate microplastics presence with increased oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, platelet aggregation disruption, and low-grade inflammation. Small human studies report associations between intraplaque or circulating microplastics and cardiovascular outcomes. However, these signals are associative, method-dependent, and vulnerable to exposure misclassification, co-pollutant confounding, contamination, and heterogeneous analytics. Microplastics are pervasive and biologically plausible as a cardiovascular risk factor, supported by growing in-vitro evidence and incipient human association studies. Cohesive population-level measures to curb MP pollution should be embedded within policies addressing broader environmental cardiovascular risk factors. For clinicians, it remains premature to recommend personal-level mitigation strategies, and MPs are best regarded as an emerging exposure within the patient's exposome that warrants awareness and further rigorous studies.
PMID:41307802 | DOI:10.1007/s11886-025-02320-w