DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GIVEN DOSES OF HEAVY METALS AND SULFHYDRYL GROUP CONTENTS IN THE SPECIAL PROTEIN FRACTIONS EXTRACTED FROM TISSUES OF MICE

Abstract

A clear dose-response relationship was observed between given doses of cadmium (Cd) and levels of sulfhydryl (SH) groups in the special protein fractions extracted from livers and kidneys of the exposed mice. Correlation efficients were 0.906 and 0.892 between doses and SH levels in livers and kidneys respectively.
Several heavy metals other than Cd were examined in regard to dose-response relationship in the same manner as Cd. Administration of Fe, Zn and Cr, even though in high doses, did not clearly increase the SH contents both in livers and kidneys. On the other hand, an obvious increase of SH levels was observed in the proteins from livers obtained from Cu-exposed mice.
These data indicate that the SH contents in the tissue give the most valid in-formation as to the evaluation of the degree of Cd-exposure. In these connections, differnt responses of the living systems to various heavy metals and a possible roll of the SH-rich proteins which increase in the tissues exposed to heavy metals were discussed.