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pH-Dependent Effects of L-Cysteine on Mercury Dissolution of α-HgS and β-HgS

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Abstract

Mercury sulfide is an insoluble inorganic mercury compound, and it is the main chemical form in traditional oral mercury-containing medicines. Hg2+ has a high affinity for thiols, and small molecule thiols in the gastrointestinal tract may promote mercury dissolution of mercury sulfide by binding to Hg2+. L-cysteine is the only amino acid that possesses a reducing sulfhydryl group (-SH), out of the 20 amino acids. This study investigates the effect of L-cysteine on mercury dissolution of mercury sulfide at pHs ranging from 1.2 to 7.2. The results showed that L-cysteine had different pH-dependent effects on the mercury dissolution of α-HgS and β-HgS. For α-HgS, the dissolved mercury concentration increased from 5.47 ± 0.97 ng/mL to 12.49 ± 0.54 ng/mL when the pH rose from 1.2 to 4.2, and decreased to 3.37 ± 0.70 ng/mL at pH 6.0 and then increased to 9.36 ± 0.79 ng/mL at pH 7.2. For β-HgS, the dissolved mercury concentration increased from 151.09 ± 2.25 ng/mL to 2346.71 ± 62.62 ng/mL when the pH increased from 1.2 to 7.2. In conclusion, L-Cys was distinctly enhanced upon mercury dissolution of α-HgS and β-HgS with increasing pH. These results may contribute to our understanding of the mercury absorption mechanism of traditional oral mercury-containing medicines.

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Funding

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81374063), the Key Laboratory Special Development Program of Qinghai Province (2017-ZJ-Y08), the Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Tibetan Medicine Pharmacology and Safety Evaluation, and “The Dawn of West China” 2014 Talent Training Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Tibetan Medicine Pharmacology and Safety Evaluation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xin-ning Road 23, Xi-ning, Qinghai, China

    Ming Zhang, Hongtao Bi, Cen Li, Yuzhi Du & Lixin Wei

  2. Key Laboratory of Tibetan Medicine Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China

    Ming Zhang, Hongtao Bi, Cen Li, Yuzhi Du & Lixin Wei

  3. University of Chinese Academic of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Ming Zhang

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  1. Ming Zhang
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  2. Hongtao Bi
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  3. Cen Li
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  4. Yuzhi Du
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  5. Lixin Wei
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Correspondence to Hongtao Bi or Lixin Wei.

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Zhang, M., Bi, H., Li, C. et al. pH-Dependent Effects of L-Cysteine on Mercury Dissolution of α-HgS and β-HgS. Biol Trace Elem Res 185, 509–512 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-018-1254-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-018-1254-9

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