Evidence for the protective effect of metallothioneins against inorganic mercury injuries to fish
It has been shown that the lethal effect of HgCl/sub 2/ added to sea water on the sea water adapted eel Anguilla anguilla could be attributed to a disruption of the NaCl balance of the animal because of the inhibition of the ouabaine sensitive Na/sup +/K/sup +/ ATPase activity of the gills. Eels adapted to sea water are able to stand continuous intoxication at sublethal doses of HgCl/sub 2/ by developing adaptive mechanisms which suppress in a few days the misfunctioning of the gills and restore the NaCl balance of the animal. Comparing the distribution of Hg in the different proteinic fractions obtained from gills of chronically and acutely intoxicated eels, corresponding respectively to animals either with intact or completely disturbed NaCl balances, it is shown that most of the mercury was bound to metallothioneins in the first case while no such protein was detectable either in acutely poisoned animals or in control specimens. It is concluded that metallothioneins protected the gill against injuries caused by mercury uptake. In order to test the hypothesis of this protective role of metallothioneins, the toxicity of a lethal dose of mercury (10 ppM) on sea water adapted eels using animals whose gills contained or not metallothioneins, depending on the treatment to which they had been submitted, was compared.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Liege, Belgium
- OSTI ID:
- 5298238
- Journal Information:
- Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol.; (United States), Vol. 23:1/2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
MERCURY
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
EEL
FISHES
SEAWATER
TOXICITY
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ECOSYSTEMS
ELEMENTS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
METALS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
VERTEBRATES
WATER
560305* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology- Vertebrates- (-1987)