Polystyrene microplastics enhance microcystin-LR-induced cardiovascular toxicity and oxidative stress in zebrafish embryos

Yuchun Xiao; Liwen Hu; Jiayao Duan; Huimin Che; Wenxin Wang; Yuan Yuan; Jiayi Xu; Daojun Chen; Sujuan Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124022

Polystyrene microplastics enhance microcystin-LR-induced cardiovascular toxicity and oxidative stress in zebrafish embryos

Environ Pollut. 2024 Apr 26:352:124022. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124022. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yuchun Xiao¹, Liwen Hu¹, Jiayao Duan¹, Huimin Che¹, Wenxin Wang¹, Yuan Yuan¹, Jiayi Xu¹, Daojun Chen², Sujuan Zhao³

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China.
² School of Medical Technology, Anhui Medical College, Hefei, 230601, China.
³ School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China. Electronic address: zsj_700@163.com.

PMID: 38679130
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124022

Abstract

The health risks associated with combined exposure to microplastics (MPs) and cyanobacteria toxins have gained increasing attention due to the large-scale prevalence of cyanobacterial blooms and accumulation of MPs in aquatic environments. Therefore, we explored the cardiovascular toxic effects of microcystin-LR (MC-LR, 1, 10, 100 μg/L) in the presence of 5 μm polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs, 100 μg/L) and 80 nm polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs, 100 μg/L) in zebrafish models. Embryos were exposed to certain PS-MPs and PS-NPs conditions in water between 3 h post-fertilization (hpf) and 168 hpf. Compared to MC-LR alone, a significant decrease in heart rate was observed as well as notable pericardial edema in the MC-LR + PS-MPs/NPs groups. At the same time, sinus venosus and bulbus arteriosus (SV-BA) distances were significantly increased. Furthermore, the addition of PS-MPs/NPs caused thrombosis in the caudal vein and more severe vascular damage in zebrafish larvae compared to MC-LR alone. Our findings revealed that combined exposure to PS-NPs and MC-LR could significantly decreased the expression of genes associated with cardiovascular development (myh6, nkx2.5, tnnt2a, and vegfaa), ATPase (atp1a3b, atp1b2b, atp2a1l, atp2b1a, and atp2b4), and the calcium channel (cacna1ab and ryr2a) compared to exposure to MC-LR alone. In addition, co-exposure with PS-MPs/NPs exacerbated the MC-LR-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, as well as the ROS-stimulated apoptosis and heightened inflammation. We also discovered that astaxanthin (ASTA) treatment partially attenuated these cardiovascular toxic effects. Our findings confirm that exposure to MC-LR and PS-MPs/NPs affects cardiovascular development through calcium signaling interference and ROS-induced cardiovascular cell apoptosis. This study highlights the potential environmental risks of the co-existence of MC-LR and PS-MPs/NPs for fetal health, particularly cardiovascular development.

Keywords: Calcium; Cardiovascular toxicity; Inflammation; Microcystin-LR; Oxidative stress; Polystyrene-MPs/NPs.