NCT05179993

Detection of Microplastics in Human Granulosa Cells and in the Follicular Fluid of Women Undergoing ICSI Treatment

Detection of Microplastics in Human Granulosa Cells and in the Follicular Fluid of Women Undergoing Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) Treatment

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 100 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Infertility Treatment Center Dortmund · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Plastic products have been used ubiquitously in the modern world for many decades - for example as packaging materials, textile fibers or molded parts. The general use and especially the improper disposal lead to enormous environmental pollution almost everywhere on earth. Microplastics mainly originate from fragmentation of larger plastic objects or can be produced directly for the use in e.g. cosmetics or industrial dyes. Microplastics have already been detected in fresh- and seawater, soil, food, but also in human blood and urine. The accumulation of microplastics in ovarian and testicular tissue in humans has not yet been investigated.

Detailed description

Plastic products have been used ubiquitously in the modern world for many decades - for example as packaging materials, textile fibers or molded parts. The general use and especially the improper disposal lead to enormous environmental pollution almost everywhere on earth. In particular microplastics, by definition plastic particles with a diameter of less than 5mm, could pose a hazard to animals, humans and nature. Microplastics mainly originate from fragmentation of larger plastic objects or can be produced directly for the use in e.g. cosmetics or industrial dyes. Microplastics have already been detected in fresh- and seawater, soil, food, but also in human blood and urine. The accumulation of microplastics in ovarian and testicular tissue in humans has not yet been investigated. The presence of microplastics in reproductive tissue could also have negative consequences for reproduction. In oysters, waterfleas and mice, an impairment of reproduction due to the bioaccumulation of microplastics has already been described. Overall, current understanding of the effects of microplastics on human fertility and overall mammalian health is very limited. Samples will be analyzed using Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy.

Conditions

• Female Infertility
• Environmental Exposure

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Microplastics	Detection of microplastics as a yes/no value

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-09-01
• Primary completion: 2026-05-31
• Completion: 2026-12-31
• First posted: 2022-01-06
• Last updated: 2026-03-20

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Germany