Enzymatic oxidation of mercury vapor by erythrocytes

The formation of glutathione radicals, the evolution of nascent oxygen or the peroxidatic reaction with catalase complex I are considered as possible mechanisms for the oxidation of mercury vapor by red blood cells. To select among these, the uptake of atomic mercury by erythrocytes from different species was studied and related to their various activities of catalase (hydrogenperoxide : hydrogen-peroxide oxidoreductase, EC 1.11.1.6) and glutathione peroxidase (glutathione : hydrogen-peroxide oxidoreductase, EC 1.11.1.9). A slow and continuous infusion of diluted H2O2 was used to maintain steady concentrations of complex I. 1% red cell supsensions were found most suitable showing high rates of Hg uptake and yielding still enough cells for subsequent determinations. The results indicate that the oxidation of mercury depends upon the H2O2-generation rate and upon the specific acticity of red-cell catalase. The oxidation occurred in a range of the catalase-H2O2 reaction where the evolution of oxygen could be excluded. Compounds reacting with complex I were shown to be effective inhibitors of the mercury uptake. GSH-peroxidase did not participate in the oxidation but rather, was found to inhibit it by competing with catalase for hydrogen peroxide. These findings support the view that elemental mercury is oxidized in erythrocytes by a peroxidatic reaction with complex I only.