Abstract
Vitamin E (50mg/kg/day, as DL-α -tocopherol acetate), Selenium (0.2066mg/kg/day, as sodium selenite) and Methylmercury (0.30mg/kg/day, as methylmercuric chloride) were administered per os. Methylmercuric chloride (MMC) and VE were administered to six cats (Group A) for 100 days with pretreatment of VE for 100 days, MMC and Se were administered to six cats (Group B) for 100 days with pretreatment of Se for 50 days, MMC, VE and Se were administered to six cats (Group C) for 100 days with pretreatment of VE for 100 days and Se for 50 days, MMC was administered solely to four cats (Group D) for 100 days without pretreatment. Four other cats (Group E) were the control.
Treatment with VE+Se or VE along with MMC clearly decreased mortality but treatment with Se along with MMC produced no statistical evidence for a decrease in mortality.
Treatment with VE+Se along with MMC statistically restrained a loss in weight due to the toxicity of MMC, but the graph of body weight showed the effectiveness of VE+Se and VE in the first half as well as Se in the latter half of the treatment period. Continual examination with a mathematical model devised by me showed the effectiveness of VE+Se and VE (VE+Se: VE=3:1), but did not clearly show the effectiveness of Se. The treatments were more effective in the latter than in the first half during the treatment periods for all groups.
No symptoms appeared in histological sections from the cerebrum and kidney of each group. VE prevented the toxicity of MMC to a degree as did Se. VE+Se almost completely prevented the toxicity of MMC in the cerebellum, and VE prevented the toxicity of Se in the liver.
VE increased the concentration of MeHg in the cerebrum. Se decreased the concentration of T-Hg and MeHg but VE tended to interfere with the effect of Se in the cerebellum. VE, Se and VE+Se caused excretion of T-Hg and VE the excretion of MeHg into the hair. VE tended to conserve Se in the organs and in the blood by itself or with Hg.
We hypothesized that the administration of VE and Se, and the intensification of Se, qualitatively or quantitatively, by VE, might increase the critical concentration for the toxicity of Hg or the upper limit for the accumulation of Hg.
