BIOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF MERCURY COMPOUNDS I. THE EFFECT OF ACIDS, BASES, SALTS AND BLOOD SERUM ON THE DIFFUSION OF MERCURY COMPOUNDS IN VITRO

¹ From the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory, Boston City Hospital, and the Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

In vitro studies of the diffusion of mercury compounds across collodion membranes show that:

1. Acids, as represented by n/100 HCl, increased the diffusion of inorganic mercury compounds, while bases, as represented by n/100 NaOH, increased the diffusion of organic mercury compounds.

2. Potassium iodide had the effect of greatly increasing the diffusion rate of all the compounds of mercury studied except potassium mercuritetraiodide.

3. Calcium chloride showed no specific action on the diffusion of mercury compounds due to the calcium ion, but acted in the same way as hydrochloric acid, but to a lesser extent.

4. Ammonium chloride greatly increased the diffusibility of the double salt of sodium oxymercuri-o-chlorophen-oxyl acetate with diethyl barbituric acid ("novasurol") and the sodium salt of mercury salicylallylamide-o-acetate ("salyrgan"). Ammonium chloride acted, with the other compounds studied, as an acid precursor in the same manner and degree as calcium chloride.

5. The inorganic compounds of mercury as represented by mercuric chloride, potassium mercuri-tetraiodide and metallic mercury showed a considerable amount of diffusion into blood serum, while the organic compounds "novasurol" and "salyrgan" showed only a small amount in the same time. Mercury succinimide occupied an intermediate position.

6. A table of solubilities of water insoluble mercury compounds in blood serum is given.