1983 Volume 21 Issue 1 Pages 19-24
Pregnant mice fed methylmercury alone or methylmercury and selenite simultaneously for 30 precoital days and thereafter up to Day 18 of gestation were examined for organ and tissue mercury concentrations and embryonic and fetal death. Coadministration of selenite increased maternal liver mercury concentrations and decreased maternal kidney mercury concentrations.
When the two groups were combined, the death rate, defined as the number of total embryonic and fetal deaths per total number of implants, was significantly correlated with organ mercury concentrations in the maternal brain, liver, blood, uterus, amniotic membrane, amniotic fluid and fetal liver. The highest correlations were found with the maternal blood and amniotic fluid. When the two groups were separated, the extent of correlation became greater in the methylmercury alone group and smaller in the coadministration group. Nevertheless, correlation coefficients of as large as some 0.9 were observed in both groups for the maternal blood and amniotic fluid. From the significant difference in the two dimensional distribution (the mercury concentration vs. the death rate) and the above results in these two tissues, the dose-response relationship and its modification by selenite were discussed.
