抄録
Mercuric chloride or methylmercuric chloride was reacted with sodium selenite in the presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and reduced glutathione (GSH), and these reaction mixtures were injected into tail vein of rats. Distribution of mercury in the rat tissues 1, 4, 24, and 168 hr after injection of the reaction mixture was determined by atomic absorption analysis. These experimental results were compared with the distribution of mercury in rats given mercuric chloride or methylmercuric chloride with sodium selenite. Unusual accumulation of mercury in the liver and spleen was found in the group given the reaction mixture of BSA, GSA, GSH, sodium selenite, and mercuric chloride, and in those given mercuric chloride and sodium selenite. This result supports the presumption that colloidal mercuric selenide is formed in the blood by simultaneous injection, because liver and spleen have phagocytic cells that engulf colloidal foreign particles. The significant accumulation of total mercury in the brain was found in the group given the reaction mixture of BSA, GSH, sodium selenite, and methylmercuric chloride, and in the group given methylmercuric chloride and sodium selenite. This result suggests that the reaction of methylmercury with selenium occurs in blood by their simultaneous injection, and that the reaction product easily permeates the brain.
