Renal function and mercury level in rats with mercuric chloride nephrotoxicity.

The levels of Hg++ in different subcellular compartments of rat kidney cortex were determined after a single subcutaneous injection of 203HgCl2, 4.7 mg/kg body weight. By 30 min after injection, cortical Hg++ level was 46.3 +/- 6.8 micrograms/g protein. A maximal cortical Hg++ value of 429 +/- 49 micrograms/g protein was reached 4 h after injection. Hg++ associated with the brush border membrane showed a progressive increase during the first 15 h after injection, but at each time interval was significantly less than cortical Hg++. The 45-hour values for cortex and brush border were equivalent. No evidence for the presence in plasma or kidney tissue of free Hg++ was obtained. Saline loading protected animals against the development of renal failure and resulted in significant lowering of cortical Hg++ levels without an effect on blood Hg++ concentration.