Effect of Intraperitoneal Serum Albumin on the Excretion and Renal Localization of Mercury After Mercuric Chloride Injection in Rats

¹ From the Department of Physiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri

Normal rats pretreated with intraperitoneal bovine serum albumin have been compared with saline-injected controls with respect to the amounts of mercury present in the kidneys and in the collected urine 24 hours after the intravenous injection of radiomercuric chloride. The albumin-injected rats excreted significantly smaller amounts and their kidneys contained significantly greater amounts. The reduction in renal toxicity of mercuric chloride, previously described by others to be associated with serum albumin administration, is not due to an increase in the excretion of mercury as a result of the induced proteinuria or to a decrease in the amount of mercury present in the kidney as revealed by analysis in 24 hours.