Background: Lead is one of the main environmental contaminants that can threaten living organisms in many ways. Lead toxicity may affect multiple organs of human body and is associated with a number of physiological, biochemical, and morphological alterations.
Aims and Objective: To investigate the risk that may result from exposure to different doses of lead acetate on the body weight and the weight of different organs, hematological indices, and the functions of liver and kidney.
Materials and Methods: The experiment was performed on 80 mice. They were divided into four groups. The first group represented the healthy control animals, while groups II, III, and IV were given sublethal doses of lead acetate (0.4, 0.8, and 1.2 mg/kg body weight, respectively) in drinking water for 12 weeks. At the end of the experimental period, blood was collected and used for hematological and biochemical analysis.
Result: The results indicated that mice treated with lead acetate showed significant reduction in total erythrocyte count, packed cell volume, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration compared with the healthy control ones while there were significant elevations in total leukocyte count and the amount of platelets. The results also showed significant increase in the activities of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, alkaline phosphatase, and lactate dehydrogenase, indicating liver dysfunction. In addition, the serum levels of blood urea nitrogen and creatinine were also increased indicating renal deficiency.
Conclusion: Treatment with lead acetate at low doses has harmful effects on experimental animals and induced hematological and biochemical alterations. Therefore, this study advises people to avoid any exposure to this toxic metal to prevent its hazardous effects on health.
Key words: Lead; Toxicity; Blood Indices; Biochemical; Liver; Kidney
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