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Subchronic Low-Dose Methylmercury Exposure Accelerated Cerebral Telomere Shortening in Relevant with Declined Urinary aMT6s Level in Rats TEXT SIZE: A A A

Methylmercury (MeHg) is a global pollutant with established toxic effects on the central nervous system (CNS). However, early events and early-warning biomarkers of CNS damage following exposure to low-dose MeHg are still lacking. This study aimed to investigate whether subchronic low-dose MeHg exposure had adverse effects on the cerebral telomere length, as well as serum melatonin and its urinary metabolite 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) in rats. Sixteen male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into two groups. Group I was the control group. In group II, rats were exposed to MeHg by gavage at a dose of 0.1 mg/kg/day for 3 months. This study revealed that MeHg exposure resulted in impairment of learning and memory ability, a slightly reduced number of neurons and an irregular arrangement of neurons in the hippocampus. It also significantly accelerated telomere shortening in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and hypothalamus. Moreover, MeHg exposure decreased the levels of melatonin in serum and aMT6s in urine, partly by suppressing the synthesis of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in the brain but promoted the expression of melatonin-catalyzing AANAT and ASMT. Importantly, cerebral telomere length was positively correlated with MT and aMT6s after MeHg exposure. These results suggested that the shortened telomere length in the brain may be an early event in MeHg-induced CNS toxicity, and the level of aMT6s in urine may serve as an early-warning biomarker for MeHg-induced CNS damage.

Publication name

 Toxics, Volume 11, Issue 2, Article Number 191, DOI 10.3390/toxics11020191, Published FEB 2023

Author(s)

 Wu, Xi; Li, Ping; Tao, Junyan; Chen, Xiong; Zhang, Aihua

Corresponding author(s) 

 Chen, Xiong; Zhang, Aihua
 scicelnat_cx@163.com; aihuagzykd@163.com
 Guizhou Med Univ, Sch Publ Hlth, Key Lab Environm Pollut Monitoring & Dis Control, Minist Educ, Guiyang 550025, Peoples R China

Author(s) from IGCAS   Li, Ping

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