Zinc Supplementation Ameliorates Biochemical Changes and Hg Intestinal Deposition Caused by Inorganic Mercury Intoxication
Received Date: Nov 21, 2017 / Accepted Date: Dec 31, 2017 / Published Date: Feb 07, 2018
Abstract
Mercury is a toxic metal used in industries and in the process of gold extraction. The inorganic form of mercury, Hg2+, is known to cause alterations in the renal system. In this context, this work evaluated the effects of oral HgCl2 exposure in markers of nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity and gastrointestinal Hg levels. Moreover, it evaluated the preventive effects of ZnCl2. Male Wistar rats were exposed orally for five days to ZnCl2 (27 mg/kg/day) and subsequently for five days to HgCl2 (5 mg/kg/day). Rats were sacrificed 24 h after last HgCl2 administration. HgCl2 exposure caused a significant increase in serum urea levels and a decrease in serum lactate dehydrogenase activity without altering gastrointestinal δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase activity. Zn pre-exposure avoided the increase in urea levels. Still, Zn supplementation increased stomach Hg accumulation and decreased Hg intestinal burden. These results suggested that the oral exposure to five doses of HgCl2 is nephrotoxic, and the preventive effect of zinc can be related to the lower intestinal Hg absorption due to stomach Hg retention.
Keywords: Nephrotoxicity; Inorganic mercury; δ-ALA-D; Lactate dehydrogenase
Citation: Oliveira CS, Pereira ME, Oliveira VA, Favero AM, Ineu RP (2018) Zinc Supplementation Ameliorates Biochemical Changes and Hg Intestinal Deposition Caused by Inorganic Mercury Intoxication. World J Pharmacol Toxicol 1: 101.
Copyright: © 2018 Oliveira CS, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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