The development of mercury- and selenium-containing deposits in the kidneys following implantation of dental amalgams in guinea pigs.

Examination of light microscopical sections of the kidneys of guinea pigs with chronic exposure to mercury as the result of the breakdown of subcutaneous implants of powdered dental amalgam demonstrated the development of black, refractile deposits in the cytoplasm and nuclei of cells in both the straight and convoluted portions of the proximal tubule. The more numerous cytoplasmic deposits were of a particulate nature with dimensions of approximately 1 microgram. The nuclear deposits, which appeared later but which were relatively more common in longer-term animals, took the form of prominent inclusions, 1 to 3 micrograms in diameter. The ratio of nuclear to cytoplasmic deposits was higher in animals receiving high copper as compared with conventional amalgam. At electron microscopical level, the cytoplasmic deposits were seen to consist of collections of fine particles within lysosomes. Similar deposits were also found in far smaller numbers in lysosomes in collecting duct cells. The nuclear inclusions in proximal tubular cells were made up of closely packed electron dense granules. X-ray microanalysis showed both lysosomal and nuclear deposits to contain mercury and selenium. The association of mercury with selenium, which was present in the animals' diet at low levels, probably aided the microscopical visualisation of the deposits.