Effect of methylmercury on fetal neurobehavioral development: an overview of the possible mechanisms of toxicity and the neuroprotective effect of phytochemicals
Bjørklund G. Antonyak H. Polishchuk A. Semenova Y. Lesiv M. Lysiuk R. Peana M.
December 2022Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Archives of Toxicology
2022#96Issue 123175 - 3199 pp.
Methylmercury (MeHg) is a global environmental pollutant with neurotoxic effects. Exposure to MeHg via consumption of seafood and fish can severely impact fetal neurobehavioral development even when MeHg levels in maternal blood are as low as about 5 μg/L, which the mother tolerates well. Persistent motor dysfunctions and cognitive deficits may result from trans-placental exposure. The present review summarizes current knowledge on the mechanisms of MeHg toxicity during the period of nervous system development. Although cerebellar Purkinje cells are MeHg targets, the actions of MeHg on thiol components in the neuronal cytoskeleton as well as on mitochondrial enzymes and induction of disturbances of glutamate signaling can impair extra-cerebellar functions, also at levels well tolerated by adult individuals. Numerous herbal substances possess neuroprotective effects, predominantly represented by natural polyphenolic molecules that might be utilized to develop natural drugs to alleviate neurotoxicity symptoms caused by MeHg or other Hg compounds.
Contamination , Herbal compounds , Methylmercury , Neurodevelopment , Neuroprotection , Neurotoxicity
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Council for Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, Toften 24, Mo i Rana, 8610, Norway
Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine
Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Lviv, Ukraine
CONEM Ukraine Life Science Research Group, Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Lviv, Ukraine
Department of Chemical, Physics, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Council for Nutritional and Environmental Medicine
Ivan Franko National University of Lviv
Nazarbayev University
Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University
CONEM Ukraine Life Science Research Group
Department of Chemical
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