Increased Uptake of Mercury in Mouse Brain caused by 2,3-Dimercaptopropanol

Abstract

2,3-DIMERCAPTOPROPANOL (BAL) is generally used in the treatment of mercury poisoning. In the case of acute mercury poisoning there is evidence to indicate that such treatment is beneficial¹. Experiments on animals^2,3 have shown that BAL effects a redistribution of the mercury in the body and enhances the urinary excretion of the former, thereby mobilizing mercury accumulated in the kidney, which is the critical organ in acute mercury poisoning. In chronic mercury poisoning, however, the brain is the critical organ, because of the slow elimination of mercury from some of its parts⁴. It was therefore considered important to learn how BAL therapy affects the uptake of mercury by brain tissue. In one approach to this problem mice were given mercury-203 (0.5 mg mercury/kg body-weight), together with BAL in about equivalent amounts (0.4 mg BAL/kg). Controls were given only the mercury compound. The animals were killed at various intervals after the injection. Autoradiograms of whole-body sagittal sections were made as described earlier⁵. The order of isotope concentration in the organs was determined by densitometric comparison with an isotopic standard ‘staircase’.