Figure 6.

Hindlimb extension test of male wild-type (WT) and TNF-α KO mice. The mice were orally administered phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) or methylmercury (15 mg/kg/day) for 5 days, followed by no administration for 2 days, and then administration for 1 day. On day 9, which is one day after the last administration, the hindlimb extension test was performed. Separately, the accumulation of total mercury in the cerebrum, cerebellum, DRG, liver, kidney, heart, and blood was measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). (A) Representative features of the hindlimb extension test in mice. (B) Quantitative analysis of the hindlimb extension by measuring the distance between the hindlimbs. ** Significantly different from the corresponding control, p < 0.01; ## significantly different from the “methylmercury administration”, p < 0.01. (C) Accumulation of total mercury. Values are means ± S.E. of four mice. There was no significant difference between WT and TNF-α KO mice.