Doctors Find Evidence Microplastics Are Clogging Arteries, Leading to Heart Attacks and Strokes

"Microplastics are everywhere, including our arteries. And though their presence there is correlated with cardiovascular issues such as heart attacks and stroke, doctors have been eager to learn more about how they drive the disease process. To that end, a team of scientists led by the University of California, Riverside (UCR) fed microplastics to lab mice and discovered that these insidious particles appear to dramatically increase the plaque accumulation known as atherosclerosis in arteries - but curiously only in male mice,"

"For the study, the team took lab mice that had been bred to be predisposed to develop atherosclerosis and then put them on a low-cholesterol, low-fat diet for nine weeks - along with feedings of microplastics at 10 milligrams per kilogram of body weight; the scientists came up with this microplastic ratio because they determined that it was "at levels considered environmentally relevant and similar to what humans may encounter through contaminated food and water," they said in the statement."

Microplastics consumed at environmentally relevant levels increased atherosclerotic plaque accumulation in male mice predisposed to atherosclerosis. Analysis of clogged arteries showed microplastics induced detrimental changes in endothelial cells, activating genes that promote plaque lesion buildup. Effects were sex-specific, observed only in males, suggesting roles for sex chromosomes and hormones, particularly estrogen's protective effects. Mice received microplastics at 10 mg/kg body weight while on a low-cholesterol, low-fat diet for nine weeks. Findings indicate microplastics may directly contribute to cardiovascular disease risk rather than solely correlating with it.

Read at Futurism