Mercuric chloride effects on the activities of some hepatic enzymes in chicks.

Three groups of 6 male chicks each were fed a commercial diet and were given drinking water which contained either 0, 150 or 300 mug. of mercury/ml. as mercuric chloride from hatching to 3 weeks of age. The chicks were killed, the livers were removed and weighed, and the activities of selected enzymes were measured in the 800 X gav supernatant fractions of the liver homogenates. Liver weights were depressed from control values in chicks receiving 300 p.p.m. mercury but not in chicks receiving 150 p.p.m. Fatty acid synthetase specific activity was depressed by both levels of added mercury, but microsomal fatty acid elongation was depressed only by 300 p.p.m. of mercury. Both levels of added mercury stimulated acid phosphatase specific activity. The speecific activities of cytochrome c oxidase, glucose-6-phosphatase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase were unaffected by added mercury. The data support the hypothesis that mercury administration does not result in generalized hepatotoxicity.