title: Cytostatic action of methylmercuric chloride on mammalian duodenal cells.
abstract: Adult male mice of the ICR/Swiss Webster strain received a single intragastric administration of methylmercuric chloride 1,000 ppm, at dose levels of 5,10,15,20,25 and 30 mg/kg of body weight. The animals were killed six hours later. Tissue samples from the duodenum were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin for light microscopy. Chromosome clumping was observed in dividing cells at all dose levels, resembling a C-mitotic effect. It would lead to reduced mitotic cell formation on account of the subsequent lysis of the arrested metaphases. The cytostatic effect was brought about by the inactivation of the microtubule spindle fiber polymerization mechanism induced by methylmercuric chloride. There was a direct positive correlation between the varying dose levels of methylmercury and the proportion of cells arrested in metaphase in the crypts of the duodenum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Faculty of Medicine, Winnipeg, Canada.
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Curle
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: T V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Persaud
authors.forename: F D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Bertalanffy
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004386:Duodenum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; C004925:methylmercuric chloride