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Table 9 Toxic effects of mercury on various cell lines.

From: Feeding mice with diets containing mercury-contaminated fish flesh from French Guiana: a model for the mercurial intoxication of the Wayana Amerindians

Organisms and species

Cell types

Mercury effects

Ref.

Bacteria Escherichia coli

Strains devoid of R plasmids

Growth inhibition: MIC = 11.5 μM HgCl2.

[45]

Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Strain W303B

Growth inhibition: MIC = 2 μM MeHgCl at 24 h.

[46]

Clam Mya arenaria

Hemocytes

Phagocytosis inhibition: IC50 = 0.44 μM MeHgCl at 18 h.

[47]

Earthworm Lumbricus terrestris

Coelomocytes

Phagocytosis inhibition: IC50 = 0.1 μM MeHgCl and 0.5 μM HgCl2 at 18 h.

[48]

Mosquito Aedes albopictus

Cell line C6/36

Cell viability: for serum deprived cultures, LD50 = 2.1 μM MeHgCl and 2.5 μM HgCl2 at 24 h; for cultures with fetal calf serum, LD50 = 5.5 μM MeHgCl and 12 μM HgCl2 at 24 h.

Cell growth inhibition: IC50 = 1 μM MeHgCl and 18.4 μM HgCl2 at 18 days.

[49]

Chicken

Retinal cells

Cell viability: 49% cell death with 10 μM MeHgCl at 6 h.

[50]

Fish fathead minnow

CCL-42

Cell viability: EC50 = 1.55 μM MeHgOH at 96 h.

[51]

Rabbit

Renal proximal tubule cells

Cell viability: LC50 = 6.1 μM MeHgCl and 34.2 μM HgCl2 at 24 h.

[52]

Rat

Cerebellar granule cells

50% apoptotic cells with 1 μM MeHgCl for 9 h; 30% apoptotic cells and 60% reduction in mitochondrial dehydrogenases with 2.5 μM MeHgCl for 1 h.

[31]

Rat

Embryonic neural stem cells

90% cell death with 0.5 μM MeHgCl for 24 h; 37% apoptotic cells with 0.1 μM MeHgCl for 24 h.

[53]

Rat

Splenocytes

Leukocytes

Cytolethality: 8 μM MeHgCl for 24 h.

[54]

Mouse

Cerebellar neurons

50% reduction in mitochondrial activity with 5 μM MeHgCl for 1 h.

[32]

 

Cerebellar astrocytes

40% reduction in mitochondrial activity with 5 μM MeHgCl for 1 h.

 

Mouse

Macrophages

Cell death: 20 μM MeHgCl for a few days.

[55]

Mouse

Peritoneal neutrophils

Necrotic cell death: 15 μM MeHgCl for 13 min.

[56]

Mouse

Multipotent neural stem cell line C17.2

45% cell death with 2 μM MeHgCl at 24 h; 20% apoptotic cells with 0.5 μM at 24 h.

[53]

Man

YAC-1 murine Moloney virus transformed lymphoma cell line

50% cell death with 25 μM MeHgCl at 4 h.

[57]

Man

T lymphocytes

Cell viability: 8 μM MeHgCl at 24 h.

[58]

 

Monocytes

Cell viability: 8 μM MeHgCl at 4 h.

 

Man

Neurons

Cell viability: LC50 = 6.5 μM MeHgCl at 24 h.

[59]

 

Astrocytes

Cell viability: LC50 = 8.1 μM MeHgCl at 24 h.

 
 

Neuroblastoma cells

Cell viability: LC50 = 6.9 μM MeHgCl at 24 h.

 
  1. Ref.: references; EC50 : median effective concentration; HgCl2 : mercury chloride; IC50 : median inhibitory concentration; LC50 : median lethal concentration; LD50 : median lethal dose; MeHgCl: methylmercury chloride; MeHgOH: methylmercury hydroxide; MIC: minimal inhibitory concentration.