Evidence that exposure to methyl mercury during gestation induces behavioral and neurochemical changes in offspring of rats.

On day 15 of gestation, pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were orally treated by gavage with 8 mg/kg of methyl mercury (MMC). At day 1 of postnatal life the levels of MMC in whole brain of exposed pups were found to be about 100 times higher than those of saline-exposed rats, while they were near to the control values at 21 days and practically normal at 60 days of age. Behavioral experiments showed that exposure to MMC in late gestation did not affect at any tested time (14, 21 and 60 days) locomotor activity or development of ultrasonic vocalization. An increased response to a challenge dose of amphetamine was, however, detected in MMC-exposed pups at day 14. This phenomenon was no longer evident at day 21 and 60 of age. In parallel, an increased density of dopamine receptors was found in the striatum at 14, but not at 21 and 60, days of age. From these data, we tentatively suggest that a high level of MMC induces a transient phenomenon of disuse-supersensitivity of the dopaminergic system. Moreover, further evidence that acute MMC exposure during prenatal life might induce permanent disturbances in learning and memory which could be partially related to a reduced functional activity of the glutamatergic system is provided.