Treatment of methyl mercury poisoning in mice with 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid and other complexing thiols.
Treatment with 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid was more effective than N-acetyl-DL-penicillamine and monomercaptosuccinic acid in mobilizing mercury from mice after the injection of methyl mercuric chloride. Dimercaptosuccinic acid treatment started 4 days after the mercury injection and given for 8 days at a dose of 1 mmol SH/kg per day removed more than 2/3 of the mercury in the brain, while acetylpenicillamine and mercaptosuccinate correspondingly removed less than 1/2 of the brain deposits. Neither treatment with 2,3-dimercaptorropano-1-sulphonate nor with a new thiolated resin, mercaptostarch, mobilized significant amounts of mercury from the brain. Since the toxicity of dimercaptosuccinate seems to be almost as low as that of D-penicillamine this dithiol may provide a potentially useful agent in clinical poisoning due to methyl mercury.
D000818:Animals; D002614:Chelating Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D005260:Female; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000378:metabolism / Q000506:poisoning*; D051379:Mice; D010396:Penicillamine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013386:Succinates / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D002614:Chelating Agents; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D013386:Succinates; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds; D010396:Penicillamine