Effect of mercuric chloride on serum protein catabolism and protein content of rabbit kidney

¹ Department of Pathology, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, Wisconsin

No effect of HgCl₂ poisoning on the catabolism of serum protein was noted in rabbits in which I¹³¹ was used as the protein label. The amount of I¹³¹ remaining in the perfused kidney was much greater in the poisoned animals than in the controls. This increase in label was shown to be due to an increase in the protein. Using T-1824, smaller increases were noted in the poisoned kidneys. The data are interpreted to show that the kidney is not a major site of serum protein catabolism and that the increased protein in the kidney results from increased filtration through a damaged glomerular membrane.