Degradation of methyl and ethyl mercury into inorganic mercury by hydroxyl radical produced from rat liver microsomes.

Liver microsomes were prepared from Wistar rat by the Ca2+ aggregation method. Under various conditions, ethyl mercury chloride (EtHgCl) or methyl mercury chloride (MeHgCl) was incubated with the microsomal preparations. After the incubation, the amounts of inorganic Hg and hydroxyl radical (.OH) in the preparations were determined. Although the preparations alone produced a small amount of inorganic Hg and .OH, the addition of NADPH to the preparations increased both inorganic Hg and .OH production, which were further accelerated by the addition of KCN. The addition of Fe(III)EDTA, a .OH formation promoter, to the microsome-NADPH-KCN system increased inorganic Hg production, whereas the addition of diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid, a .OH formation inhibitor, decreased inorganic Hg production. When .OH scavengers such as mannitol and dimethyl sulfoxide were added to this system, the inorganic Hg production decreased. These results suggested that the .OH produced from liver microsomes was responsible for the degradation of MeHg and EtHg. Since both .OH and inorganic Hg production decreased with a concomitant decrease in NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase activities, it is suggested that this enzyme may be involved in the microsomal degradation of MeHg and EtHg.