Protective effects of selenium against mercury toxicity as studied in the rat liver and kidney by nuclear analytical techniques.

Mercuric chloride and sodium selenite were separately administered to male rats in the drinking water or in a combination (2.5 mmol Hg/L and 0.1 mmol Se/L). The mercuric chloride group showed histopathological lesions, as evidenced by cell necrosis in the liver and tubular necrosis in the kidney. The sodium selenite group showed some depression in growth, but pathological changes were found neither in the liver nor in the kidney. Simultaneous administration of both compounds produced a protective effect on weight loss and histopathology. These effects were associated with some small structures in the kidney proximal tubules and to some structure in the extracellular space in the liver. Thin, unstained cryosections were freeze-dried and examined in the Studsvik Nuclear Microprobe. The structures observed in the liver and the kidney were shown to contain both selenium and mercury.