Bordeaux University-CNRS, UMR EPOC 5805, Arcachon Marine Station, place du Docteur Peyneau, Arcachon, 33120, France.
Environ Int. 2011 Feb;37(2):303-13. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2010.09.003. Epub 2010 Oct 30.
Methylmercury (MeHg) is a potent neurotoxin, and human beings are mainly exposed to this pollutant through fish consumption. Only a few contradictory epidemiological studies are currently available examining the impact of fish consumption on human populations. In the present study, we wanted to address whether a diet mimicking the fish consumption of Western populations could result in observable adverse effects in mice, and whether beneficial nutriments from fish were able to counterbalance the deleterious effects of MeHg, if any. In Europe and the United States, fish consumption varies widely between countries, from 11 to 100 g fish/day. A mid-range value of 25 g fish/day corresponds to a fish contribution to the total diet of 1.25% on a dry weight basis. We decided to supplement a vegetarian-based mouse diet with 1.25% of lyophilized salmon flesh (SAL diet), or 1.25% of a blend of lyophilized cod, tuna, and swordfish (CTS diet). Total mercury contents were 1.15±0.15, 2.3±0.1 and 35.75±0.15 ng Hg/g of food pellets for the control, SAL and CTS diets, respectively. After two months feeding, the CTS diet resulted in significant observable effects as compared to the control and SAL diets, encompassing decreased body growth, altered behavioral performance and increased anxiety level, modification of mitochondrial respiratory protein subunit concentrations in kidney and brain structures, modified gene expression patterns in kidneys, liver and muscles, and a decrease of dopamine concentrations in the hypothalamus and striatum. Our findings have health implications, firstly because 1.25% of CTS flesh in the diet corresponds to an average exposure to MeHg below the WHO provisory tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) (1.6 μg MeHg/kg of body weight/week), and secondly because many people in Western populations, among them women of child-bearing age, are exceeding the PTWI value (for instance, 35% of the French population inhabiting the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts).
甲基汞（MeHg）是一种强效神经毒素，人类主要通过食用鱼类接触这种污染物。目前仅有少数相互矛盾的流行病学研究检查了鱼类消费对人类群体的影响。在本研究中，我们想要确定模拟西方人群鱼类消费的饮食是否会导致小鼠出现可观察到的不良影响，以及鱼类中的有益营养物质是否能够抵消 MeHg 的有害影响（如果有的话）。在欧洲和美国，各国之间的鱼类消费差异很大，从 11 到 100 克/天不等。每天 25 克鱼的中位数相当于鱼类在干重基础上对总饮食的贡献为 1.25%。我们决定在以素食为基础的老鼠饮食中补充 1.25%的冻干三文鱼肉（SAL 饮食），或 1.25%的冻干鳕鱼、金枪鱼和剑鱼混合物（CTS 饮食）。对照、SAL 和 CTS 饮食的食物丸中总汞含量分别为 1.15±0.15、2.3±0.1 和 35.75±0.15ngHg/g。喂养两个月后，与对照和 SAL 饮食相比，CTS 饮食导致了明显的可观察到的影响，包括体重增长减少、行为表现改变和焦虑水平升高、肾脏和大脑结构中线粒体呼吸蛋白亚基浓度的改变、肾脏、肝脏和肌肉中的基因表达模式改变以及下丘脑和纹状体中多巴胺浓度的降低。我们的研究结果具有健康意义，首先是因为饮食中 1.25%的 CTS 肉相当于平均暴露于 MeHg 低于世界卫生组织暂定每周可耐受摄入量（PTWI）（1.6μgMeHg/kg 体重/周），其次是因为许多西方人群，包括育龄妇女，已经超过了 PTWI 值（例如，居住在大西洋和地中海沿岸的法国人口的 35%）。
