Thiol in Liver and Kidneys of Chickens: Effect of Injection of Three Mercury Compounds or Starvation

Abstract MILLER et al. (1959a, b, 1967) have investigated the retention of mercury by two strains of chicks, selected by Bearse et al. (1963) for resistance (R) and susceptibility (S) to avian leukosis. The R strain of chicks retained larger amounts of mercury in liver and kidneys than the S strain after dosing with several mercurials over a wide range. Mercury is usually believed to be attached to protein thiol groups in the animal body (Hughes, 1957). Therefore, the effect of injection of three mercurials on the liver and kidney thiol was investigated as a possible cause of the difference in retention observed. Also, starvation and protein depletion were found to increase the retention of mercury in both strains of chicks (Larkin et al., 1965). Therefore, the effect of feed deprivation or protein depletion on liver and kidney thiol was investigated. The differences in the normal thiol in the organs of…