Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Stroke / 03.04.2025
ACC25: Microplastics May Be Unrecognized Risk Factor for Stroke
[caption id="attachment_67750" align="alignleft" width="250"] Sai Rahul Ponnana[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Sai Rahul Ponnana, M.S
Advanced Data Analytics Research Analyst
Cardiovascular Research Institute
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Wolstein Research Building,
Cleveland, OH. 44106-7288
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Microplastics are tiny plastic particles less than 5 mm which have become a pervasive environmental pollutant, detectable in air, water, food, and even human tissues. While their ecological impacts have been well-documented, their influence on human health, particularly cardiovascular health, remains underexplored. Recent mechanistic studies suggest that microplastics can induce inflammation, oxidative stress, and endothelial dysfunction, all of which are pathways implicated in chronic disease and ASCVD. In our study, we analyzed a total of 709 U.S. coastal census tracts to investigate the association between marine microplastic concentration data obtained from NOAA NCEI database and the prevalence of stroke and other chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as high blood pressure and diabetes, sourced from CDC places database.
Sai Rahul Ponnana[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Sai Rahul Ponnana, M.S
Advanced Data Analytics Research Analyst
Cardiovascular Research Institute
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Wolstein Research Building,
Cleveland, OH. 44106-7288
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Microplastics are tiny plastic particles less than 5 mm which have become a pervasive environmental pollutant, detectable in air, water, food, and even human tissues. While their ecological impacts have been well-documented, their influence on human health, particularly cardiovascular health, remains underexplored. Recent mechanistic studies suggest that microplastics can induce inflammation, oxidative stress, and endothelial dysfunction, all of which are pathways implicated in chronic disease and ASCVD. In our study, we analyzed a total of 709 U.S. coastal census tracts to investigate the association between marine microplastic concentration data obtained from NOAA NCEI database and the prevalence of stroke and other chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as high blood pressure and diabetes, sourced from CDC places database.
Kazi Albab Hussain[/caption]
Kazi Albab Hussain
Graduate Student (PhD)
Specialization: Water Resources
Advisor: Professor Yusong Li, PhD
Associate Dean for Faculty and Inclusion
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Microplastics have been detected in various food items and beverages, including table salt, bottled water, fish, and mussels. The extensive use of plastic-based products in food preparation, storage, and handling has raised concerns about the direct release of microplastics. Interestingly, we often discuss microplastics but overlook nanoplastics in the conversation. Due to their smaller size, nanoplastics are harder to be detected.
In our study, we wanted to see the release of both microplastics and nanoplastics, as nanoplastics may be even more toxic than microplastics.
Unfortunately, infants and toddlers are particularly vulnerable to the potential health impacts of micro- and nanoplastics. Studies have shown significant ingestion of these particles from polypropylene feeding bottles and silicone-rubber baby teats. We aimed to investigate the release of of micro- and nanoplastics, estimated their exposure for infants and toddlers, and evaluated their cytotoxicity to human embryonic kidney cells.
