{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T21:19:23Z","timestamp":1792790363600,"version":"4.5.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]]},"group-title":"Pathology","reference-count":36,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789948800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"award":["P30AG08404"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["P30AG08404"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01cwqze88","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["P20AG068077"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["P20AG068077"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01cwqze88","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["F99NS139535"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["F99NS139535"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01cwqze88","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Beckman Institute at Caltech","award":["N\/A"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["N\/A"]}]},{"name":"Harvey Family Endowment","award":["N\/A"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["N\/A"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0229evh14","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Our environment has become progressively contaminated with non-biological materials, especially synthetic carbon polymers, plastics. Unsurprisingly some of these make it into the human body as detected by chemical analyses, yet it is unknown whether they cause harm or are innocent bystanders. Building on our observations of glossy deposits and unusual non-biological fluorescent particles in blood vessels, we aimed to determine whether these objects represented plastics. To do this we prepared plastics-enriched pellets from brain and subjected them to pyrolysis gas-chromatography\/mass spectroscopy (py-GC\/MS), electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Py-GC\/MS confirmed the presence of 10 different plastics. Contents of pellets were examined by thin-section EM. We then used laser scanning confocal microscopy to acquire hyperspectral profiles of each type of plastic in suspensions. We found fluorescent particles in all pellets from brains. All 12 plastics in the calibration standard fluoresced. We obtained hyperspectral profiles of single species plastics from industry: Polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene. Controls included chemical analysis of brain storage buffer, which had no detectable plastics; and imaging water only and areas on slides lacking tissue. Abundant particles with emission profiles similar to polyethylene and polypropylene decorated the walls of both arterioles and venules. These particles were coincident with glossy deposits we first observed in white matter, suggesting that both features represent plastics. In summary our results demonstrate that synthetic polymers exhibit detectable fluorescence, and particles with similar spectral properties are visible in histologic sections. This opens the door to investigating correlations between plastics and pathology.<\/jats:p>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Highlights<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:list list-type=\"bullet\">\n                    <jats:list-item>\n                      <jats:p>In brain histology, deposits that do not stain for hemosiderin were common adjacent to blood vessels.<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:list-item>\n                    <jats:list-item>\n                      <jats:p>Pyrolysis gas-chromatography\/mass-spectroscopy identified 10 different plastics in brain.<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:list-item>\n                    <jats:list-item>\n                      <jats:p>Plastics in calibration standards fluoresced when excited by 405nm laser light.<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:list-item>\n                    <jats:list-item>\n                      <jats:p>Synthetic plastics and particles in brain fluoresced with similar unique hyperspectral profiles.<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:list-item>\n                    <jats:list-item>\n                      <jats:p>Particles that fluoresce like plastics were coincident with glossy deposits seen by brightfield.<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:list-item>\n                  <\/jats:list>\n                <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.09.14.751595","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T10:15:11Z","timestamp":1789985711000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Visualizing micro-nanoplastics in the human brain: Early evidence for roles in microvascular pathology"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8390-8529","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elaine L.","family":"Bearer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Dept of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM"},{"name":"Division of Biology and BioEngineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA"},{"name":"Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA"},{"name":"Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Research Center, Center for Memory and Aging, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1198-8440","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marcus A.","family":"Garcia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-7972-9722","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laurissa","family":"Barela","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2274-7255","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andres","family":"Collazo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Biology and BioEngineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cathleen F.","family":"Martinez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dept of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3856-5248","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Taylor W.","family":"Uselman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dept of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7426-7064","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gary A.","family":"Rosenberg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Research Center, Center for Memory and Aging, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.abb0354"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1094559"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/toxsci\/kfae060"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1093\/toxsci\/kfae021","article-title":"Quantitation and identification of microplastics accumulation in human placental specimens using pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry","volume":"199","year":"2024","journal-title":"Toxicological Sciences"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1367","DOI":"10.1038\/s41591-025-03675-x","article-title":"Author Correction: Bioaccumulation of microplastics in decedent human brains","volume":"31","year":"2025","journal-title":"Nature Medicine"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41591-024-03453-1"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gnoffo, C. & Frache, A . Identification of Plastics in Mixtures and Blends through Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography\/Mass Spectrometry. Polymers (Basel ) 16(2023).","DOI":"10.3390\/polym16010071"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Leslie, H.A. et al. Discovery and quantification of plastic particle pollution in human blood. Environ Int 163, 107199 (2022).","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envint.2022.107199"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Matsui, K. et al. Identification algorithm for polymer mixtures based on Py-GC\/MS and its application for microplastic analysis in environmental samples. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 149(2020).","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaap.2020.104834"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"125250","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envpol.2024.125250","article-title":"Challenges in Raman spectroscopy of (micro)Plastics: The interfering role of colourants","volume":"363","year":"2024","journal-title":"Environ Pollut"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"319","DOI":"10.1089\/brain.2022.0057","article-title":"Mass Spectrometry Imaging in Alzheimer\u2019s Disease","volume":"13","year":"2023","journal-title":"Brain Connectivity"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3139","DOI":"10.1364\/BOE.563592","article-title":"Enhanced supercritical angle localization microscopy through point spread function modeling","volume":"16","year":"2025","journal-title":"Biomedical Optics Express"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.13","first-page":"3953","article-title":"White mater hyperintensities and microplastics","volume":"33","year":"2025","journal-title":"Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag.Reson. Med."},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bearer, E.L. , Garcia, M.A. , Adolphi, N. & Campen, M.J. White matter hyperintensities and microplastics. bioRxiv, 2024.11.26.625277 (2024).","DOI":"10.1101\/2024.11.26.625277"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2059","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajpath.2025.07.007","article-title":"Exploring Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment with Focus on Small-Vessel Disease of White Matter and Micro\/nanoplastics","volume":"195","year":"2025","journal-title":"The American Journal of Pathology"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0003702816641267"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2174\/1568005023342407"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"164","DOI":"10.1086\/BBLv207n2p164a","article-title":"Anterograde Transport of Peptide-Conjugated Fluorescent Beads in the Squid Giant Axon Identifies a Zip-Code for the Synapse","volume":"207","year":"2004","journal-title":"Biol Bull"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1474-9728.2003.00069.x"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0607527103"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"055005","DOI":"10.1088\/1478-3975\/9\/5\/055005","article-title":"Quantitative measurements and modeling of cargo-motor interactions during fast transport in the living axon","volume":"9","year":"2012","journal-title":"Phys Biol"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1083\/jcb.115.6.1629"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"361","DOI":"10.1086\/BBLv183n2p361","article-title":"Fluorescence Microscopy of Single Actin Filaments Labeled by Conjugation to Rhodamine","volume":"183","year":"1992","journal-title":"Biol Bull"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.24","unstructured":"Suvarna, S.K. , Layton, C. & Bancroft, J.D . Bancroft\u2019s Theory and PRactice of histological Techniques, (Elsevier, 2019)."},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.97.14.8146"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1007025421849"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0017966"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1091\/mbc.01-06-0315"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.77.11.6601"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1083\/jcb.92.3.604"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1083\/jcb.100.2.418"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"085012","DOI":"10.1088\/2515-7620\/adf8ae","article-title":"Short-term exposure to polystyrene microplastics alters cognition, immune, and metabolic markers in an apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype and sex-dependent manner","volume":"7","year":"2025","journal-title":"Environmental Research Communications"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Liu, Z. et al. Anionic nanoplastic contaminants promote Parkinson\u2019s disease\u2013associated \u03b1-synuclein aggregation. Science Advances 9, eadi8716.","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.adi8716"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7326\/0003-4819-129-4-199808150-00001"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1164\/ajrccm.150.4.7921471"},{"key":"2026092404100962000_2026.09.14.751595v1.36","first-page":"1642","article-title":"Flock Worker\u2019 Lung Diseae, Natural History of Cases and Exposed Workers in Kingston, Ontario","volume":"143","year":"2013","journal-title":"CHEST"}],"container-title":[],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.64898\/2026.09.14.751595","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T11:10:21Z","timestamp":1790248221000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/biorxiv.org\/lookup\/doi\/10.64898\/2026.09.14.751595"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]]},"references-count":36,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.64898\/2026.09.14.751595","relation":{},"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]]},"subtype":"preprint"}}