Urinary protein excretion of semidomesticated mink in a chronic methylmercury study

Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health
G ChamberlandN Larivière

Abstract

A model using semidomesticated mink was set up to study the effects of chronic oral methylmercury exposure in piscivorous mammals. Three groups of mink were fed daily with diets containing approximately 0.1, 0.5, and 0.9 micrograms/g of total mercury. Piscivorous and non-piscivorous fish, naturally contaminated with methylmercury, were used to prepare diets. Renal injury was evaluated using total urine protein/creatinine ratio and differentiation of urinary low-molecular-weight and high-molecular-weight proteins on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The significance of the total urine protein/creatinine ratio data was assessed by comparing the results to a 95% group-based reference interval. The values for total urine protein/creatinine ratio did not reveal any significant increased excretion, and no dose-related trends were observed within the reference interval. Overall the total urine protein data did not suggest renal damage. Analysis of the SDS-PAGE electrophoretograms did not suggest the presence of any persistent glomerular damage in any group. High-molecular-weight proteins were not detected more frequently for any of the dose groups. During the adaptation phase, the B2M-like protein b...Continue Reading

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