Abstract
Effect of inorganic mercury administration on gel filtration (Sephadex G-200) patterns of endogenous selenium, most of which is supposedly incorporated into structural or functional proteins, in the rat plasma and soluble fractions of the liver and kidneys was investigated. High molecular weight complexes containing equimolar amount of 203Hg and 75Se were observed in the plasma and soluble fraction of the liver, but not in the kidney, at 24 h after simultaneous administration of 203HgCl2 and Na275SeO3 as in the cases of other animal species reported so far. However, an increase in the amount of endogenous selenium associated with these high molecular weight complexes in the plasma and liver was hardly observed at 24 h after HgCl2 administration. These results suggest that inorganic mercury selectively interacts with co-administered selenium to form high-molecular weight complex, but not with the endogenous selenium.
