title: Silent latency periods in methylmercury poisoning and in neurodegenerative disease.
abstract: This article discusses three examples of delay (latency) in the appearance of signs and symptoms of poisoning after exposure to methylmercury. First, a case is presented of a 150-day delay period before the clinical manifestations of brain damage after a single brief (<1 day) exposure to dimethylmercury. The second example is taken from the Iraq outbreak of methylmercury poisoning in which the victims consumed contaminated bread for several weeks without any ill effects. Indeed, signs of poisoning did not appear until weeks or months after exposure stopped. The last example is drawn from observations on nonhuman primates and from the sequelae of the Minamata, Japan, outbreak in which low chronic doses of methylmercury may not have produced observable behavioral effects for periods of time measured in years. The mechanisms of these latency periods are discussed for both acute and chronic exposures. Parallels are drawn with other diseases that affect the central nervous system, such as Parkinson disease and post-polio syndrome, that also reflect the delayed appearance of central nervous system damage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, NY 14642, USA.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Clarkson
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Simon
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005506:Food Contamination; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq; D007700:Kinetics; D008630:Mercury Poisoning / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000506:poisoning*; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds