title: Strain differences in tissue concentrations of mercury in inbred mice treated with mercuric chloride.
abstract: Tissue concentrations of mercury were determined by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry in different inbred mouse strains after continuous treatment with HgCl2 (3 weekly sc injections of 0.5 mg/kg bw) for up to 12 weeks. Except for the thymus, in which steadily increasing mercury concentrations were found, in steady state levels of mercury were reached in blood and liver after 4 weeks and in spleen and kidney after 8 weeks. In the closely related strains C57BL/6, B10.D2, and B10.S, which differ only or primarily at the major histocompatibility complex, mercury concentrations in blood and liver were about twofold lower and renal concentrations were about three- to fivefold lower than those detected in strains A.SW and DBA/2. Another strain difference was observed in the spleen: after 8 and 12 weeks of continuous HgCl2 treatment, mercury concentrations in the spleen of strains A.SW, C57BL/6, and B10.S were significantly higher than those in strains DBA/2 and B10.D2. The strain difference in the spleen, an organ of the immune system, correlates with the susceptibility to the HgCl2-induced systemic autoimmune syndrome in mice in that the strains showing a higher mercury accumulation in the spleen are susceptible to this form of chemically induced autoimmunity, whereas the strains with lower mercury concentrations in the spleen are resistant.
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Griem
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Turfeld
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zander
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wiesner
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dunemann
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gleichmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007668:Kidney / Q000737:chemistry; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry; D008627:Mercuric Chloride / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008628:Mercury / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D013045:Species Specificity; D013154:Spleen / Q000737:chemistry; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000737:chemistry; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D008627:Mercuric Chloride; D008628:Mercury