A study of the effect of DL-α-tocopherol on mercury exhalation and organ distribution in mice injected with mercuric ion - Experiments of the oxidation or reduction of mercury in vitro and vivo - part 2

Mice were preliminarily injected with Vitamin E subcutaneously and with mercuric ion intraperitoneally. The exhalation and organ distribution of mercury were determined and compared with the control mice without Vitamin E. Mice were preliminarily injected with 3-amino-l, 2, 4-triazole intraperitoneally and with mercuric ion intraperitoneally. The exhalation, urinary excretion and organ distribution of mercury were compared with the control mice. The results obtained were as follows. 1. The amounts of mercury in the exhalation of mice which were administered Vitamin E were more than the control. 2. The levels of mercury concentration and perecentages of distribution in the kidneys of mice which received Vitamin E were significantly higher than the control mice. The levels of mercury concentration and percentages of distribution in the carcass and the subcutaneous tissue of mice which received with Vitamin E were significantly less than the control mice, respectively. It suggested that the Vitamin E exerts an effect as the blocker, with accumulation of mercury in the adipose tissue and, eventually, a larger accumulation of kidney. 3. The amounts of exhaled mercury and that in urine in mice which received 3-amino-1, 2, 4-triazole were more than those in the control mice. This suggested that the reoxidation of mercury (Hg(0)→Hg(++)) in the mice treated with 3-amino-1, 2, 4-triazole was less than in control mice, and that higher amounts of Hg0 resulted, which could be exhaled from the lungs and accumulated into the kidneys