Abstract
Mercuric chloride (3 μM or 10 μM) increased several effects of ionizing radiation (1 Gy) on preimplantation mouse embryos in vitro. Blastocyst formation, hatching of blastocysts, and the number of cells per embryo were affected by this increase in radiation risk. The formation of micronuclei, however, was not influenced either in experiments using mercury alone or in combination experiments with X-rays.
Not only was the sum of the single effects exceeded in some of the combination experiments, but the dose-pairs, which were necessary for obtaining a certain effect, clearly fell to the left of the envelope of additivity. That is, the enhancement of effects cannot be explained merely by the shape of the dose-response curves, but there is an interaction between mercury and ionizing radiation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brinster RL (1969) Mammalian embryo culture. In: Hafez ESE, Blandau RJ (eds) The mammalian oviduct. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 419–444
Bryan SE, Lambert C, Hardy KJ, Simons S (1974) Intranuclear localization of mercury in vivo. Science 186: 832–833
Kazantzis G (1981) Role of cobalt, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, platinum, selenium and titanium in carcinogenesis. Environ Health Perspect 40: 143–161
Khera KS (1979) Teratogenic and genetic effects of mercury toxicity. In: Nriagu JO (ed) The biogeochemistry of mercury in the environment. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 503–518
Koos BJ, Longo LD (1976) Mercury toxicity in the pregnant woman, fetus, and newborn infant. Am J Obstet Gynecol 126: 390–409
Kuntz WD, Pitkin RM, Bostrom AW, Hughes MS (1982) Maternal and cord blood background mercury levels: A longitudinal surveillance. Am J Obstet Gynecol 143: 440–443
Matsumoto N, Spindle A (1982) Sensitivity of early mouse embryos to methylmercury toxicity. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 64: 108–117
Molls M, Pon A, Streffer C, van Beuningen D, Zamboglou N (1983) The effects of lead and X-rays, alone or in combination on blastocyst formation and cell kinetics of preimplantation mouse embryos in vitro. Int J Radiat Biol 43: 57–69
Müller W-U, Streffer C, Kaiser U (1982) The combined treatment of mouse embryos in vitro with cadmium (CdSO4, CdF2) and X-rays. Arch Toxicol 51: 303–312
Müller W-U, Streffer C, Fischer-Lahdo C (1983) Effects of a combination of X-rays and caffeine on preimplantation mouse embryos in vitro. Radiat Environ Biophys 22: 85–93
Müller W-U, Streffer C (1984) Combined effects after exposure during the preimplantation period. In: Streffer C, Patrick G (eds) Effects of prenatal irradiation with special emphasis on late effects. EULEP Symposium 29 July 1982, Bordeaux, France. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, pp 49–60
Ramel C (1972) Genetic effects. In: Friberg L, Vostal J (eds) Mercury in the Environment. CRC Press, Cleveland, Ohio, pp 169–181
Ramamoorthy S, Kushner DJ (1975) Binding of mercuric and other heavy metal ions by microbial growth media. Microb Ecol 2: 162–176
Schiele R, Freitag EM, Schaller KM, Schellmann B, Weltle D (1981) Untersuchung zur normalen Quecksilberkonzentration menschlicher Organe. Zbl. Bakt Hyg I. Abt Orig B 173: 45–62
Steel GG, Peckham J (1979) Exploitable mechanisms in combined radiotherapy-chemotherapy: The concept of additivity. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 5: 85–91
Streffer C (1982) Some fundamental aspects of combined effects by ionizing radiation and chemical substances during prenatal development. In: Kriegel H, Schmahl W, Kistner G, Stieve F-E (eds) Developmental effects of prenatal irradiation. Fischer, Stuttgart, pp 267–285
Streffer C, van Beuningen D, Molls M, Pon A, Schulz S, Zamboglou N (1978) In vitro culture of pre-implanted mouse embryos. A model system for studying combined effects. In: Late biological effects of ionizing radiation, vol II. IAEA-SM224/801. International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, pp 381–396
Streffer C, van Beuningen D, Molls M, Zamboglou N, Schulz S (1980) Kinetics of cell proliferation in the preimplanted mouse embryo in vivo and in vitro. Cell Tissue Kinet 13: 135–143
Vallee BL, Ulmer DD (1972) Biochemical effects of mercury, cadmium, and lead. Ann Rev Biochem 41: 91–128
Yamamoto KI, Kikuchi Y (1980) A comparison of diameters of micronuclei induced by clastogens and by spindle poisons. Mutat Res 71: 127–131
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Müller, WU., Streffer, C. & Fischer-Lahdo, C. Enhancement of radiation effects by mercury in preimplantation mouse embryos in vitro. Arch Toxicol 57, 114–118 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00343120
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00343120