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Subclinical effects of prenatal methylmercury exposure on cardiac autonomic function in Japanese children

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Abstract

Objectives: The subclinical effects of prenatal exposure to methylmercury from fish consumption on the cardiac autonomic function were assessed in 136 Japanese 7-year-old children recruited for this study. Methods: Samples of child’s hair and dry umbilical cord preserved were collected, and hair mercury and cord tissue methylmercury concentrations were determined as current and prenatal exposure biomarkers, respectively. Cardiac autonomic indicators of parasympathetic and sympathetic activities were calculated from the electrocardiographic RR intervals measured. Results: In the children, the cord tissue methylmercury (0.017–0.367, median 0.089 μg/g) was not significantly correlated with the hair mercury (0.43–6.32, median 1.66 μg/g). The cord tissue methylmercury was related negatively to parasympathetic components of cardiac autonomic indicators (P<0.05) and positively to sympathovagal indices (P<0.05), even after correction for possible confounders such as age and sex, although the hair mercury was not significantly correlated with any cardiac autonomic indicators. Conclusions: Despite the potential limitations involved in the retrospective study, these findings suggest that prenatal methylmercury exposure (median of estimated maternal hair mercury at parturition, 2.24 μg/g) may be associated with reduced parasympathetic activity and/or sympathovagal shift.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Philippe Grandjean for his valuable comments, and Dr. Satoshi Terui and the Akita and Tottori Prefectural Education Boards for their cooperation in collecting the study population. This research was supported by a grant from the Ministry of the Environment, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Akita University School of Medicine, 010-8543, Akita, Japan

    Katsuyuki Murata, Miwako Dakeishi & Toyoto Iwata

  2. Department of Epidemiology, National Institute for Minamata Disease, Minamata, Japan

    Mineshi Sakamoto & Xiao-Jie Liu

  3. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan

    Kunihiko Nakai & Hiroshi Satoh

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  1. Katsuyuki Murata
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  2. Mineshi Sakamoto
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Correspondence to Katsuyuki Murata.

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Murata, K., Sakamoto, M., Nakai, K. et al. Subclinical effects of prenatal methylmercury exposure on cardiac autonomic function in Japanese children. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 79, 379–386 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-005-0064-5

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