Abstract
ObjectivesConsumption of fish/seafood is clearly linked to higher mercury levels in human tissue samples. However, correlations between methylmercury (MeHg) intakes calculated from dietary surveys and mercury body burdens are usually weak and can vary across populations. Different factors may affect MeHg absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion, including co-exposures to phytochemicals and antibiotics, which were shown to affect mercury body burdens in rodents. Based on the observation that rat pups developmentally exposed to MeHg and a Rhododendron tomentosum extract (Labrador Tea) presented significantly higher blood mercury levels at weaning compared to pups exposed to MeHg alone, the modulation of MeHg toxicokinetics by Labrador Tea was further investigated in adult rats.ResultsTotal mercury levels were quantified in the blood, liver, kidney and feces of adult male rats exposed to MeHg (1.2 mg/kg bodyweight/day, for 3 weeks) administered either alone or in combination with Labrador Tea (100 mg/kg bodyweight/day) or with an antibiotics cocktail (to inhibit MeHg demethylation by gut bacteria). While the reduced fecal excretion and higher blood mercury levels expected from antibiotics-treated rats were observed, mercury levels in samples from Labrador Tea-treated rats were not significantly different from those measured in samples from rats exposed to MeHg alone.
Highlights
Epidemiology studies clearly link increased mercury levels in human tissue samples to fish and seafood consumption, correlation coefficients between estimated MeHg dietary intakes and body burdens are usually weak, ranging from 0.3 to 0.4 [1, 2]
Total mercury levels were quantified in the blood, liver, kidney and feces of adult male rats exposed to MeHg (1.2 mg/kg bodyweight/day, for 3 weeks) administered either alone or in combination with Labrador Tea (100 mg/kg bodyweight/day) or with an antibiotics cocktail
While the reduced fecal excretion and higher blood mercury levels expected from antibiotics-treated rats were observed, mercury levels in samples from Labrador Tea-treated rats were not significantly different from those measured in samples from rats exposed to MeHg alone
Summary
Epidemiology studies clearly link increased mercury levels in human tissue samples to fish and seafood consumption, correlation coefficients between estimated MeHg dietary intakes and body burdens are usually weak, ranging from 0.3 to 0.4 [1, 2]. These relatively weak correlations have been attributed to mercury quantification issues, dietary survey imprecisions, recall biases [2, 3], impaired liver functions [4, 5], genetic. Consumption of black tea has been shown to affect the human gut microflora [21], and volunteers who ate fish and drank tea presented higher blood mercury concentrations than volunteers who only ate fish in a controlled human exposure study [22]
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