Department of Organism Biology, Uppsala University, Kåbovägen 4, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Neurotoxicology. 2023 Jul;97:34-46. doi: 10.1016/j.neuro.2023.05.004. Epub 2023 May 8.
Methylmercury (MeHg) is neurotoxic at high levels and particularly affects the developing brain. One proposed mechanism of MeHg neurotoxicity is alteration of the epigenetic programming. In this review, we summarise the experimental and epidemiological literature on MeHg-associated epigenetic changes.
Experimental and epidemiological studies have identified changes in DNA methylation following in utero exposure to MeHg, and some of the changes appear to be persistent. A few studies have evaluated associations between MeHg-related changes in DNA methylation and neurodevelopmental outcomes. Experimental studies reveal changes in histone modifications after MeHg exposure, but we lack epidemiological studies supporting such changes in humans. Experimental and epidemiological studies have identified microRNA-related changes associated with MeHg; however, more research is needed to conclude if these changes lead to persistent and toxic effects.
MeHg appears to interfere with epigenetic processes, potentially leading to persistent changes. However, observed associations of mercury with epigenetic changes are as of yet of unknown relevance to neurodevelopmental outcomes.
甲基汞（MeHg）在高浓度下具有神经毒性，尤其会影响发育中的大脑。MeHg 神经毒性的一个提出的机制是表观遗传编程的改变。在这篇综述中，我们总结了有关 MeHg 相关表观遗传改变的实验和流行病学文献。
实验和流行病学研究已经确定了宫内暴露于 MeHg 后 DNA 甲基化的变化，并且一些变化似乎是持久的。一些研究评估了 MeHg 相关的 DNA 甲基化变化与神经发育结果之间的关联。实验研究揭示了 MeHg 暴露后组蛋白修饰的变化，但我们缺乏支持人类中此类变化的流行病学研究。实验和流行病学研究已经确定了与 MeHg 相关的 microRNA 变化；然而，需要更多的研究来确定这些变化是否会导致持久和毒性的影响。
MeHg 似乎会干扰表观遗传过程，可能导致持久的变化。然而，目前观察到的汞与表观遗传变化的关联与神经发育结果的相关性尚不清楚。
