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Methylmercury Poisoning in Common Marmosets—A Study of Selective Vulnerability Within the Cerebral Cortex

National Institute for Minamata Disease, Minamatu City, Kumamoto, Japan, kometo{at}nimd.go.jp.

Akira Yasutake

National Institute for Minamata Disease, Minamatu City, Kumamoto, Japan

Takashi Kuwana

National Institute for Minamata Disease, Minamatu City, Kumamoto, Japan

Yukunori Korogi

Department of Radiology, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Kumamoto, Japan

Michio Akima

Department of Pathology, Toho University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

Toshie Shimozeki

Department of Pathology, Toho University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

Hidehiro Tokunaga

Department of Surgical Pathology, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Kumamoto, Japan

Yosuke Kaneko

Laboratory of Animal Technologists, Animal Care Co Ltd, Tokyo, Japan

Neuropathological lesions found in chronic human Minamata disease tend to be localized in the calcarine cortex of occipital lobes, the pre- and postcentral lobuli, and the temporal gyri. The mechanism for the selective vulnerability is still not clear, though several hypotheses have been proposed. One hypothesi s is vascular and postulates that the lesions are the result of ischemia secondary to compression of sulcal arteries from methylmercury-induced cerebral edema. To test this hypothesis, we studied common marmosets because the cerebrum of marmosets has 2 distinct deep sulci, the calcarine and Sylvian fi ssures. MRI analysis, mercury assays of tissue specimens, histologic and histochemical studies of the brain are reported and discussed. Brains sacrifi ced early after exposure to methylmercury showed high contents of methylmercury and edema of the cerebral white matter. These results may explain the selective cortical degeneration along the deep cerebral fi ssures or sulci.

Key Words: Common marmosets • methylmercury poisoning • pathology.

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