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J.Health Sci., 51(2), 207-211, 2005
Sex Difference in the Influence of Dietary Protein
Deficiency on the Fate of Methylmercury in Mice and Rats
Tatsumi Adachi,*, a Takashi
Kuwana,a Huan Sheng Pan,b and Kimiko
Hirayamac
aDepartment of Basic Medical Sciences, and
bDepartment of Epidemiology, National Institute for Minamata Disease,
4058-18 Hama, Minamata, Kumamoto 867-0008, Japan, and
cKumamoto University College of Medical Science, 4-24-1
Kuhonji, Kumamoto 862-0976, Japan
We investigated sex difference in the influence of
dietary protein deficiency on the fate of
methylmercury (MeHg) using both sexes of C57BL/6N mice and
Wistar rats to determine the universality of the
influence. One day after oral administration of MeHg
(20 mu mol/kg), regardless of sex and species, urinary Hg
excretion was suppressed by dietary protein deficiency,
whereas fecal excretion was not affected. At that time,
tissue Hg concentrations in both sexes of the specified
species were similarly influenced by dietary protein
deficiency except for the gonads, although the
influence on Hg concentration in each tissue was different
between species. Regardless of sex, dietary protein
deficiency resulted in the following alterations: in mice,
the brain Hg concentration increased but the
concentrations in the liver, kidney, blood and plasma were
not affected, and in rats, Hg concentrations in the liver
and blood increased but the renal concentration
decreased with similar concentrations in the plasma and
brain. Hg concentration in the testes was enhanced in
mice but suppressed in rats by dietary protein
deficiency, whereas that in the ovary was not affected in
either species, suggesting that Hg accumulation in the
gonads would be more changeable in males than in females by dietary protein deficiency. These results
suggest that, regardless of sex, dietary protein
deficiency similarly influences the fate of MeHg, except
for the gonads. It is also suggested that a decrease in
urinary excretion of MeHg by dietary protein
deficiency might be universal.
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