Pregnant rats exposed to low-level methylmercury exhibit cerebellar synaptic and neuritic remodeling during the perinatal period.

Archives of Toxicology
Masatake Fujimura, Fusako Usuki

Abstract

Methylmercury (MeHg) is a potent neurotoxic chemical, and gestational exposure to MeHg is known to cause developmental impairments in fetuses. Although it is well established that fetuses are extremely susceptible to MeHg toxicity, limited studies have investigated the effect of low-level MeHg exposure on mothers. In this study, we demonstrated that exposure of pregnant rats to low-level MeHg (1 ppm in drinking water) induced cerebellar synaptic and neuritic remodeling during the perinatal period between gestational day 20 and postnatal day (PND) 1. MeHg-induced neurodegeneration, for example, cerebellar granule cell death, was not detected and fetuses were delivered normally and exhibited normal development. The maternal cerebellar synaptic and neuritic changes were restored by PND 21. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying these perinatal changes in MeHg-exposed pregnant rats, we investigated proteins related to synapse formation and neurite outgrowth. We identified suppression of the tropomyosin receptor kinase (Trk) A pathway and reduced activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (Arc) expression in MeHg-exposed pregnant rats during the perinatal period, mirroring the decreased expression of synaptic and neuritic pr...Continue Reading

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Citations

Oct 16, 2020·Food and Chemical Toxicology : an International Journal Published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association·Masatake FujimuraTakamitsu Unoki
Apr 27, 2021·Current Opinion in Toxicology·Airton C MartinsMichael Aschner
Apr 28, 2020·Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety·Na ChenXianjin Xiao

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
acetylation
dissection
ELISA

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