Micro-, Nanoplastics Detected More Often in Patients With STEMI

MONDAY, Aug. 3, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) are detected significantly more frequently in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) than in patients with chronic coronary syndromes (CCS) and controls with normal coronary arteries, according to a study published online July 14 in the European Heart Journal.Pasquale Paolisso, M.D., Ph.D., of the Sant'Andrea University Hospital in Rome, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study involving 61 consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography for suspected coronary artery disease, stratified into: STEMI, CCS, and controls (19, 20, and 22 patients, respectively). Pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and laser direct infrared spectroscopy were used to quantify coronary and peripheral blood MNPs.The researchers found that compared with CCS and controls, MNPs were detected significantly more frequently in patients with STEMI (84.2 percent versus 40.0 and 31.8 percent, respectively), with higher concentration and greater polymer diversity; the predominant polymer was polyethylene (97 percent). In peripheral and coronary blood samples from individual patients, the same polymers were identified, with the highest concentrations seen in coronary blood. Higher levels of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α were seen in patients with STEMI and they were exposed to higher levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Among smokers and patients exposed to PM2.5 >15 µg/m3, MNP detection was more frequent; detectable MNPs were seen in all patients presenting both factors. Smoking history was the only independent predictor of MNP presence in multivariable analysis (odds ratio, 5.69)."These findings do not prove that microplastics cause heart attacks, but they reveal a strong association between environmental exposures, microplastics in the blood, and cardiovascular disease," lead author Emanuele Barbato, M.D., also from Sant'Andrea University Hospital, said in a statement.Abstract/Full TextEditorial.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Micro-, Nanoplastics Detected More Often in Patients With STEMI

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