title: Methylmercury poisoning in common marmosets--MRI findings and peripheral nerve lesions.
abstract: Common marmosets were used as model animals for methylmercury (MeHg) poisoning. Six marmosets were given MeHg of 5 ppm Hg in drinking water. The animals were divided into 3 groups of 2 each. The first group was examined for acute symptomatic MeHg poisoning. They were given MeHg for 70 and 90 days, respectively, to manifest severe symptoms. The second group was sacrificed after 38 days of MeHg exposure, when they had acute-subclinical MeHg poisoning. The third group of animals was exposed for 21 days, and then observed for 2.5 years without MeHg exposure. One of them showed typical symptoms of MeHg poisoning after MeHg exposure had ended, but the other one showed only slight symptoms without ataxia. This experiment demonstrated that MeHg causes pathological changes in neural tissues including the peripheral nerves in common marmosets. Furthermore, common marmosets were found to show MeHg-induced pathological changes similar to those in humans in the cerebrum and cerebellum.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Minamata Disease, Ministry of the Environment, Minamata City, Kumamoto, Japan. kometo@nimd.go.jp
authors.forename: Komyo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eto
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yasutake
authors.forename: Yukunori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Korogi
authors.forename: Michio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akima
authors.forename: Toshie
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimozeki
authors.forename: Hidehiro
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tokunaga
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuwana
authors.forename: Yosuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kaneko
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002144:Callithrix; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity*; D008992:Monkey Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology*; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology*; D012183:Retrograde Degeneration / Q000473:pathology; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; C004925:methylmercuric chloride