Abstract
Several toxic compounds of heavy metals (triethyllead, lead acetate, methylmercury, mercuric oxide and copper sulphate) stimulate oligodendroglial development in cultures when present at low levels in the culture medium. Studies of methylmercury and triethyllead show that astroglial cells respond to the same doses with an increase in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) content. Above a critical concentration, the stimulatory effect of a metal ceases, and the compounds begin to express individual toxic effects. We were not able to observe any differences microscopically in the number of microglia in the control and exposed cultures.
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