Abstract
Teratogenic and embryocidal effects of methylmercuric chloride were studied in rats and mice. A single oral administration of 35 mg/kg of methylmercuric chloride was given to pregnant Wistar rats on day 6, 8, 10, 12 or 14 of pregnancy. Pregnant ddN mice were orally administered with a single dose of 30 mg/kg on each day from day 6 to 13 of pregnancy. Increase in intrauterine death and fetal growth retardation were marked in most treated groups both in rats and mice. In both of these groups, hydrocephalus was manifest. In mice, a high incidence of cleft palate, micrognathia and microglossia was noted. Brain lesions such as tissue defects and focal necrosis in the brain mantle, corpus callosum, nucleus caudatus-putamen, thalamus, hypothalamus and primordial cerebellum were detected in every treated group of rats and mice.
