Zoology Department, University School of Sciences, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, India.
Drug Chem Toxicol. 2010 Apr;33(2):209-16. doi: 10.3109/01480540903349258.
The effect of melatonin on the neurotoxicity induced by mercuric chloride was studied. Adult rats were fed orally with two different doses of mercuric chloride (2 mg; 4 mg/kg body weight) to evaluate brain toxicity with respect to cerebral hemisphere, cerebellum, and medulla oblongata regions for 60 days with or without supplementation with melatonin (5 mg/kg body weight) intraperitoneally. The results suggest that the graded doses of mercury elicit the depletion of enzymatic activities, such as adenosine triphosphatase, succinate dehydrogenase, phosphorylase, alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, altered glycogen, total protein, and lipid peroxidation levels in the cerebral hemisphere, cerebellum, and medulla oblongata of the brain, thereby affecting their respective functions. Blood glucose and mercury levels increased, followed by a reduction in body and organ weights. All these effects seemed to be severe in the cerebral hemisphere of the brain. Further affected indices were, to some extent, maintained in the brain of animals cotreated with melatonin, showing its protective role against mercury-exerted neurotoxicity.
本研究旨在探讨褪黑素对氯化汞诱导的神经毒性的影响。成年大鼠连续 60 天经口给予两种不同剂量的氯化汞（2mg；4mg/kg 体重），以评估大脑半脑、小脑和延髓区域的脑毒性，同时或不给予褪黑素（5mg/kg 体重）腹腔内补充。结果表明，汞的分级剂量会导致大脑半脑、小脑和延髓的酶活性如三磷酸腺苷酶、琥珀酸脱氢酶、磷酸化酶、碱性磷酸酶、酸性磷酸酶、糖原、总蛋白和脂质过氧化水平耗竭，从而影响它们各自的功能。血糖和汞水平升高，随后体重和器官重量减轻。这些影响在大脑的半脑区域似乎更为严重。用褪黑素共同处理的动物的大脑中的其他受影响的指标在某种程度上得到维持，表明其对汞引起的神经毒性具有保护作用。
