Background: The consequences of exposure to mercury and its compounds on the reproductive potential and health of offspring are a pressing problem for the global scientific community. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of mercury chloride toxicity in the parent rats on the postnatal development, behavior, and neuromuscular conductivity of their adult offspring.
Methods: The experiments were conducted in parental Wistar rats of both sexes, which were subcutaneously injected daily with mercury chloride solution (HgCl2) at a rate of 0.5 mg/kg before mating for 6 weeks. We assessed the postnatal mortality, body weight, surface righting reflex and motor activity of the newborn offspring. The examination of the adult offspring included open field, resident-intruder and rotarod tests, development of the food-procuring reflex, and electro-neuromyography examinations.
Results: The study results showed that exposure to HgCl2 in parental rats of both sexes before mating resulted in low motor activities and failure of impulse conduction in the neuromuscular apparatus of the hind limbs in the offspring. In addition, maternal exposure to HgCl2 before mating led to failure of the cognitive abilities in the adult offspring while the paternal exposure led to a decline in the offspring’s aggressiveness.
Conclusion: The study results supported the need for further investigation on the long-term effects of mercury toxicity on the rats’ generations, and the mechanism of transmission of the "chemical load" from generation to generation.