Published June 25, 2025 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Mercury exposure triggers diabetes mellitus through a pancreatic beta cell endoplasmic reticulum stress mechanism

Creators

  • 1. Medical Science Education Doctoral Programme, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Lambung Mangkurat University, South Kalimantan, Indonesia
  • 2. Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Lambung Mangkurat University, South Kalimantan, Indonesia
  • 3. Departement of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Lambung Mangkurat University, South Kalimantan, Indonesia
  • 4. Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Lambung Mangkurat University, South Kalimantan, Indonesia
  • 5. Department of Anatomical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Lambung Mangkurat University, South Kalimantan, Indonesia
  • 6. Department of Biomedics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Lambung Mangkurat University, South Kalimantan, Indonesia
  • 7. Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Mulawarman University, North Kalimantan, Indonesia

Description

Mercury  the source of free radicals,can trigger the activation of ER  stress can cause beta cell pancreas injuries and result in diabetes mellitus. There have been many studies on mercury toxicity in various organs, but there are still few scientific studies that examine the pathomechanism of diabetes mellitus caused by mercury through the endoplasmic reticulum stress.This study was conducted to investigate the triggering of the endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway due to mercury exposure in beta cell pancreas injury resulting diabetes mellitus. Research using randomized true laboratory experiment method with post-test control group design. The number of samples used was 28 Wistar rats. The research group consisted of 2 groups, control group was given aquadest ad libitum, and intervention group was given water contaminated with mercury per oral once a day (15 kg/WB). The treatment period was 14 consecutive days and on the 15th day, blood samples were taken. ER stress marker was assessed by examining Ca2+ count, expression levels of GRP 78 and JNKp; beta cell injuries were assessed by examining fasting blood sugar. The collected data were analyzed by independent t-test with 95% confidence level; significant if p>0.05. The study found that mercury exposure can trigger ER stress activation of pancreatic beta cells and cause impairment in their function in metabolising glucose, resulting in hyperglycaemia, which can lead to diabetes mellitus. Further research needs to be conducted to look for the involvement of higher-level cellular biomolecular mechanisms that could form the basis of specific therapies for mercury-induced diabetes mellitus.

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