title: Methylmercury at low doses modulates the toxicity of PCB153 on PC12 neuronal cell line in asynchronous combination experiments.
abstract: Me-Hg and PCB153 are known neurotoxic contaminants which tend to accumulate in food, particularly in fish. Aim of this study was to perform asynchronous and combined exposure to Me-Hg and PCB153 in a neuronal rat cell line (PC12) to better characterise the antagonism observed at some combination concentrations. PC12 cells were treated with three concentrations of Me-Hg (0.1-0.5-1.0 microM) and PCB153 at one concentration (175 microM) in single and combined asynchronous exposures, using viability (MTT assay) as end-point. At all concentrations used, a statistically significant antagonistic effect was observed when Me-Hg preceded PCB153 exposure, while effect was additive when PCB153 preceded Me-Hg exposure. The antagonism is particularly evident at low concentrations of Me-Hg (0.1 microM). In conclusion, combined asynchronous exposure showed that whereas Me-Hg can modulate PCB153 toxicity, the opposite seems not to be true. Therefore, the use of asynchronous exposure could be a promising approach to study the mechanisms of toxicity of binary mixtures.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Industrial Toxicology, Department of Clinical Medicine, Nephrology and Health Sciences, University of Parma, Via Gramsci 14, 43100 Parma, Italy. matteo.goldoni@nemo.unipr.it
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goldoni
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caglieri
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Poli
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Vettori
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ceccatelli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mutti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002470:Cell Survival; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004336:Drug Antagonism; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005506:Food Contamination; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D016716:PC12 Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000633:toxicity*; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D004338:Drug Combinations; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; C014024:2,4,5,2',4',5'-hexachlorobiphenyl