Several heavy metals that are currently employed in industry may become polluters of work and natural environments. As particulate matter, heavy metals are suitable for entering the human body through the respiratory and digestive systems. They often end up inside phagocytes; the size of the microscopic particles modulates both their phagocytosis, and the physiology of macrophages. Here we have adopted an experimental model to investigate the ingestion of particles of three industrial heavy metals (Se, Hg, W) by murine peritoneal macrophages in vivo. The phagocytes were studied by scanning electron microscopy coupled with X-ray elemental microanalysis (SEM-XRM), a method that allows specific identification of Se, W and Hg in cells at high resolution. We found that Hg that was taken up by macrophages was organized into small, round particles (0.31 +/- 0.14 microm). This was in contrast with the larger size of intracellular particles of Se (2.37 +/- 1.84 microm) or W (1.75 +/- 1.34 microm). Ingested particles of Se and W, but not Hg, often caused bulging of the cell surface of macrophages. We conclude that particulate matters of Se, W and Hg are organized in particles of different size inside macrophages. This size difference is likely to be associated with distinct phlogistic activities of these heavy metals, Se and W causing a milder inflammatory reaction than Hg.

To investigate the early visceral distribution of mercury (Hg), we have intraperitoneally injected a lethal dose of HgCl2 that killed BALB/c mice within 2-4 min. Scanning electron microscopy coupled with X-ray microanalysis (SEM-XRM) was used to detect and quantify Hg in situ in different organs. The highest density of Hg was seen in the liver (60.9+/-24.9 Hg particles per mm2 of tissue); this density was three and six times higher than those of renal or splenic Hg, respectively. Hg was scarce in the lungs and absent in the brain. Considering the relative weights of mouse viscera, our quantitative data show that the liver captured 89% of the visceral Hg; the kidneys captured 8.5% and the spleen just 1.7%. SEM-XRM revealed that most of the visceral Hg was associated with resident macrophages, a few Hg dots being detected on the surface of erythrocytes. We conclude that: (i) most intraperitoneally injected Hg was captured by liver Kupffer cells within minutes of injection; (ii) a 10-fold lower density of Hg particles was observed in the kidneys, and a 50-fold lower deposition of Hg was found in the spleen; (iii) SEM-XRM is an adequate method to quantify microparticles of Hg in tissues and cells.

The in vivo dynamics of selenium (Se) and mercury (Hg) interaction was studied in mouse tissues using direct visualization of individual Se, Hg, and SeHg particles on the surface of circulating erythrocytes. This high-resolution detection of Se and Hg was obtained by scanning electron microscopy coupled to X-ray microanalysis. BALB/c mice were injected in the peritoneal cavity with Se and Hg salts, and the animals were sacrificed 3 min after the Hg injection. Only a minority (9%) of the metal dots seen on mouse liver erythrocytes were SeHg complexes when Se and Hg salts were mixed together before injection. In contrast, the majority (73%) of metal dots on liver erythrocytes were SeHg complexes if Se was injected at least 5 min before Hg injection. All metal dots on liver erythrocytes were of SeHg complexes if Se was injected 9 or 12 min before the Hg injection. We conclude that the formation of stable in vivo SeHg complexes requires preliminary interaction of Se with a putative serum factor before complexes between Se and Hg are formed and are bound to the erythrocyte cell surface.

Accidental inhalation of selenium (Se) derivatives, such as dimethyl selenide (DMSe), has been associated with damage of respiratory tissues. However, systemic effects of inhaled Se have not been thoroughly established. We have investigated whether mouse kidney and liver show cellular pathology as a result of a single intratracheal instillation of two different doses of DMSe (0.05 and 0.1 mg Se/kg BW). The animals were sacrificed 1, 7, 14, and 28 days after either 1 of the 2 DMSe treatments; samples were studied by light microscopy. Instillation of the low DMSe dose resulted in acute and transient tubular disease of the kidney expressed by swelling and vacuolation of epithelial cells of proximal tubules; in some mice, tubular necrosis was observed. After 14 days of the DMSe treatment, these lesions were ameliorated and, by day 28, the kidney tubular epithelium depicted a normal morphology. The same low dose of DMSe caused sustained damage to centrilobular hepatocytes characterized by swollen and vacuolized liver cells. After the instillation of the high DMSe dose, the mice presented sustained liver and kidney focal necrosis. Our data suggest that inhalation of DMSe results in: (i) acute tubular injury of the kidney and damage to centrilobular liver cells and (ii) this systemic pathology induced by DMSe is a dose-dependent phenomenon.