Effect of mercury on glutathione and thyroid hormones

Journal Article · Sun Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990 · Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01700885· OSTI ID:6519322

Sin, Y M; The, W F; Wong, M K; Reddy, P K ^[1]

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1. National Univ. of Singapore (Singapore)

In previous work, oral administration of mice with mercuric chloride (HgCl{sub 2}) or mercuric sulfide (HgS) showed that the low solubility of HgS would result in a lower absorption rate of mercury via the gastrointestinal tract as compared to the HgCl{sub 2}. Therefore, the biological effects of these two mercuric compounds towards animals appear to vary according to the levels of tissue accumulation of the absorbed ionic mercury. Researchers reported that the absorbed ionic mercury forms complexes with SH groups in this tissues of the body. This leads to the suggestion that cysteine alone might be a critical factor in the control of mercury deposition in body tissues. However, cysteine is also used for synthesis of glutathione (GSH) which, in turn may serve as a reservoir of cysteine. Sulfoxidation of the cysteine will lead to the formation of inorganic sulfate. On the other hand, thyroid hormones (T3 and T4) are also known to conjugate with glucuronide or sulfate for biliary or urinary excretion. The purpose of this paper is to study the changes of glutathione and thyroid hormones in animals treated with mercuric compounds of different solubilities.

• OSTI ID: 6519322
• Journal Information: Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; (USA), Journal Name: Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; (USA) Vol. 44:4; ISSN 0007-4861; ISSN BECTA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AMINO ACIDS
ANIMALS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BIOASSAY
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
CHLORIDES
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
DRUGS
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
GLUTATHIONE
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HORMONES
IMMUNOASSAY
IMMUNOLOGY
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
IODINE 125
IODINE ISOTOPES
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
MAMMALS
MERCURY CHLORIDES
MERCURY COMPOUNDS
MERCURY HALIDES
MERCURY SULFATES
MICE
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC IODINE COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PEPTIDE HORMONES
PEPTIDES
POLYPEPTIDES
PROTEINS
RADIOASSAY
RADIOIMMUNOASSAY
RADIOIMMUNODETECTION
RADIOIMMUNOLOGY
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIOPROTECTIVE SUBSTANCES
RODENTS
SPECTROPHOTOMETRY
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
THYROID HORMONES
THYROXINE
TRACER TECHNIQUES
TRIIODOTHYRONINE
VERTEBRATES