Santucci B, Cannistraci C, Cristaudo A, Camera E, Picardo M
San Gallicano Dermatological Institute, Rome, Italy.
Contact Dermatitis. 1998 Sep;39(3):123-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0536.1998.tb05860.x.
For a better understanding of the mechanistic details of the interactions of organomercury compounds inside the skin, 32 subjects who previously had given positive patch-test reactions to thimerosal (TH) and negative reactions to thiosalicylic acid, were divided into 2 groups. 16 subjects were repatch tested to ethylmercury chloride (EtHgCl) and to solutions containing EtHgCl mixed with L-cysteine and glutathione, respectively. The remaining 16 were repatch tested to EtHgCl and to solutions containing EtHgCl mixed with chlorides of Zn, Mg, and Mn, respectively. The results showed that whilst L-cysteine, glutathione and ZnCl2 were able to abolish or to reduce the positive reactions to EtHgCl, chlorides of Mg and Mn were unable to do so. Patch tests revealed that in causing positive reactions to TH, EtHg probably interacted with thiol groups and with Zn ions, as in biological systems when causing toxic effects. The limited number of TH reactions in the general population, the constant presence of concomitant positive reactions to EtHgCl and MeHgCl, and the lack of cross-reactivity with other organic or inorganic mercury compounds, lead us to speculate that reactions to TH are due to organomercury alkyl compounds, and that positive subjects have a constitutively reduced capability to metabolize organomercury compounds, rather than to reveal previous exposure.
为了更好地理解有机汞化合物在皮肤内相互作用的机制细节，32名之前对硫柳汞（TH）斑贴试验呈阳性反应且对硫代水杨酸呈阴性反应的受试者被分为两组。16名受试者分别再次接受氯化乙基汞（EtHgCl）以及含有与L-半胱氨酸和谷胱甘肽混合的EtHgCl溶液的斑贴试验。其余16名受试者分别再次接受EtHgCl以及含有与锌、镁和锰的氯化物混合的EtHgCl溶液的斑贴试验。结果表明，虽然L-半胱氨酸、谷胱甘肽和氯化锌能够消除或减少对EtHgCl的阳性反应，但镁和锰的氯化物则不能。斑贴试验显示，在引起对TH的阳性反应时，EtHg可能与巯基和锌离子相互作用，就像在生物系统中产生毒性作用时那样。一般人群中TH反应数量有限、对EtHgCl和甲基汞（MeHgCl）的伴随阳性反应持续存在以及与其他有机或无机汞化合物缺乏交叉反应性，使我们推测对TH的反应是由有机汞烷基化合物引起的，并且阳性受试者代谢有机汞化合物的能力在本质上降低，而不是因为曾有过接触暴露。
