Subclinical neurotoxicity of mercury: a behavioural, molecular mechanisms and therapeutic perspective

ABSTRACT This paper summarizes some recent research works performed during the last 20 years on the molecular mechanisms associated with mercury (Hg) effects on cognitive function. The study will provide a behavioral, molecular and therapeutic perspective from studies that suggest that mercury is neurotoxic metal with diverse effects on cellular functions in the brain. Mercury (Hg), and the organometallic compounds formed from it, are among the most toxic of substances to the global environment. Mercury exists in a wide variety of physical and chemical states, each of which has unique characteristics of target organ toxicity. Ultimately exposure to it can lead to neural destruction and degenerative disease, mercury vapor exposure from dental amalgam has been demonstrated to exceed the sum of all other exposure sources. Although mercury toxic potency is now widely known, its existence in the environment and in several man-made applications makes human exposure inevitable. There are many mechanisms that cause cellular destruction, that is why studies on different adverse mechanisms, and new methodological developments broaden the knowledge of the toxicity of this metal. For experiments on mercuric mercury, methyl mercury toxicity, several methods and cultures of different neural cell types were used. The study will also describe a non-pharmacological therapeutic approach, environmental enrichment, as promising strategy to reverse Hg effects on cognitive function