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In vivo effect of methylmercury on protein synthesis in brain and liver of the rat

1978; Elsevier BV; Volume: 44; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0041-008x(78)90197-7

1096-0333

Saburo Omata, Kenji Sakimura, Hidemi Tsubaki, Hiroshi Sugano,

Trace Elements in Health

Rats were given daily sc injections of methylmercury chloride, 10 mg/kg for 7 consecutive days. The manifestation of the neurological syndrome in the rat and the accumulation of mercury in rat tissues resembled the observations of previous investigators. The incorporation in vitro of [14C]leucine into brain protein began to decrease during the latent period of intoxication and declined to 56% of the control values at the symptomatic period. The incorporation of [14C]leucine into liver protein was also inhibited to a similar extent at the symptomatic period following a remarkable stimulation at the early stage after the onset of administration of methylmercury. The impairment of protein synthesis in the brain and liver at the symptomatic period was confirmed by the incorporation in vivo of a 14C-labeled amino acid mixture into proteins of these tissues. The decrease in the [14C]leucine incorporation in the liver of poisoned rats was largely affected by nutritional deficiency due to decreased food intake, but that in the brain resulted from the direct effect of methylmercury on this tissue.