All right. of reproduction in any form reserved. Localization, Accumulation, and Toxic Effects of Mercuric Chloride on the Reproductive Axis of the Female Hamster12

Experiments were performed to determine the mechanism for the effects of mercuric chloride on the reproductive system of the hamster. Tissue levels of mercury were deter-mined in animals which were treated with daily subcutaneous doses of saline, 1 mg of HgClz, or 1 mg of HgCl2 and 50 mg of N-acetyl-DL-penicillamine (NAP), throughout one 4-day estrous cycle. The relations between concentrations of mercury in several organs were found to be kidney> liver> anterior pituitary> ovary> blood> uterus> hypo-thalamus> cerebral cortex. Animals which were injected with HgCl3 and NAP had signifi-cantly less (p <0.001) mercury than animals treated with HgCI2 alone in all tissues except the cerebral cortex. Tissues from animals which were injected daily with 12 iCi of 203HgCl2 and 1 mg of HgCl2 were prepared for radioautography. In the ovary, mercury was more concentrated in the corpora lutea than the follicles of interstitium. Mercury was also found lining the sinusoids of th pituitary and in some of the neurons of the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. Explanations for possible alterations in gonado-tropin secretion are discussed. When hamsters were given a total of 3 or 4 mg of HgCl during the first cycle