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Microplastics block blood flow in the brain, mouse study reveals

Real-time imaging shows how plastic-stuffed cells form clumps that affect mouse movement.
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  1. Smriti Mallapaty
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For the first time, scientists have tracked microplastics moving through the bodies of mice in real time1. The tiny plastic particles are gobbled up by immune cells, travel through the bloodstream and eventually become lodged in blood vessels in the brain. It’s not clear whether such obstructions occur in people, say researchers, but they did seem to affect the mice’s movement.

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Nature 638, 20 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00178-0

References

  1. Huang, H. et al. Sci. Adv. 11, eadr8243 (2025).

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  2. Marfella, R. et al. N. Engl. J. Med. 390, 900–910 (2024).

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  3. Campen, M. et al. Preprint at Research Square https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4345687/v1 (2024).

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