Summary:
Recent research highlights the skeleton’s key role in overall health and longevity. However, the effects of modern environmental risk factors, such as micro and nanoplastics (MPs) on bone health are not well understood. MPs are tiny plastic particles such as microplastics which are less than 5 millimeters, and nanoplastics are under 100 nanometers in size. They originate from the breakdown of plastic waste or are released from products such as cosmetics, clothing, and packaging. These particles are increasingly detected in the environment and, alarmingly, have recently been found in human bone tissue. This narrative review summarized current evidence on how MPs may affect bone and bone marrow and explored potential links to bone diseases like osteoporosis. The paper reviewed laboratory studies that indicated that MPs can reduce cell viability (how healthy a cell is), trigger cell aging, disrupt gene expression, increase reactive oxygen species, cause inflammation, and promote bone loss. MPs can also interfere with the development of bone marrow stem cells, which are essential for maintaining healthy bones. The paper also looked at animal studies, which showed that ingesting MPs can disrupt gut microbiota, lower white blood cell counts, and accumulate in bones, leading to impaired growth, weakened bone structure, and reduced function of key bone cells. MPs also showed to affect various blood cells and compromise overall bone marrow function in these models. Despite these findings from cell and animal studies, the effects of MPs accumulation in human bone and bone marrow remain largely unknown. Further research is needed to understand how environmental exposure to MPs may contribute to bone disease risk in humans.
Abstract:
A growing role for the skeleton in human health and longevity emerged recently. However, knowledge regarding the effects of new risk factors, linked to modern life, for bone diseases is not documented satisfactorily. Micro- and nanoplastics (MPs) are environmental and health concerns due to their widespread detection in the human surrounding environment. This narrative review aims to critically summarize current knowledge on the effects of MPs on bone and bone marrow and to explore potential links to human bone diseases, such as osteoporosis. Worryingly, MPs were recently detected in human bone tissue. In the last years, in vitro studies have shown that MPs affect cell viability, induce cell senescence, alter adipogenic cell differentiation, modify gene expression, increase reactive oxygen species production, trigger inflammatory responses, and promote osteoclastogenesis. MPs have also been associated with the impairment of the bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cell differentiation potential. Experimental animal studies indicated that MPs ingestion disturbs gut microbiota and reduces white blood cell counts, suggesting compromised bone marrow function. MPs have been detected in bone tissue following intragastric administration and were shown to affect various blood cells. Additionally, MPs accumulation in bones reduced their growth and impaired trabecular microarchitecture likely due to the osteoblasts’ decreased osteogenic function. Although numerous in vitro and in vivo studies have described the effects of MPs on cells and bone tissue using animal models, the mechanistic impact of MPs accumulation in human bones or bone marrow remains largely unexplored.
Article Publication Date: 24/06/2025
DOI: 10.1007/s00198-025-07580-4
