Table 1.
Mercury increases the incidence and severity of coronary arteritis in mice.
| Coronary Arteritis a | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PBS | HgCl2 | LCWE | LCWE+HgCl2 | ||
| Incidence | Incidence | Incidence | Severity (Mean ± SD) | Incidence | Severity (Mean ± SD) |
| 0/10 | 0/10 | 7/10 | 0.65 ± 0.47 | 10/10 | 1.95 ± 0.15 b |
Incidence of coronary arteritis 28 days after disease induction is presented as a total number of mice with histologic evidence of inflammation over the total number of mice injected. Disease severities were significantly increased in mice injected with LCWE and HgCl2 when compared to LCWE alone.
Cellular infiltrates are evaluated based on a semi-quantitative scoring system from 0 – 4: 0 = no infiltrate; 1 = minimal cellular infiltrate; 2 = moderate cellular infiltrate; 3 = extensive transmural cellular infiltrate; 4 = extensive cellular infiltrate extending well beyond the coronary artery wall. Inflammation was determined based on the presence of monocytes, lymphocytes, and neutrophils, as morphologically identified.
p<0.0001.