Abstract
Lead (Pb) is a metal toxicant of great public health concern. The present study investigated the applicability of the rat incisor in Pb exposure screening. The levels of lead in teeth (Pb-T) in the crown and root of incisors in laboratory Pb-exposed Sprague Dawley rats were quantified using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The crown accumulated much Pb-T than the root of the Sprague Dawley rat incisor. The levels of lead in blood (Pb-B) were positively correlated with the Pb-T in the crown and root incisors of the Sprague Dawley rats. As an application of the Pb-T crown results in experimental rats, we subsequently analyzed the Pb-T in the crown incisors of Pb-exposed wild rats (Rattus rattus) sampled from residential sites within varying distances from an abandoned lead–zinc mine. The Pb-T accumulation in the crown of incisors of R. rattus rats decreased with increased distance away from the Pb–Zn mine. Furthermore, the Pb-T was strongly correlated (r = 0.85) with the Pb levels in the blood. Laser ablation ICP-MS Pb-T mappings revealed a homogenous distribution of Pb in the incisor with an increased intensity of Pb-T localized in the tip of the incisor crown bearing an enamel surface in both Sprague Dawley and R. rattus rats. These findings suggest that Pb-T in the crown incisor may be reflective of the rat’s environmental habitat, thus a possible indicator of Pb exposure.
Highlights
IntroductionLead (Pb) is a toxic metal known to cause a number of physiological and biochemical dysfunctions in animals and humans [1]
The Pb in blood (Pb-B) levels increased significantly with the increase in the dose of Pb given through water with the high Pb group having the highest mean concentration of 39.63 ± 8.09 μg/dL, followed by the low Pb group, which had a mean of 9.90 ± 1.71 μg/dL and the control had lowest with 4.01 ± 0.86 μg/dL (Figure 3A)
The crown and the root of both lower and upper incisor teeth Pb in the teeth subdivisions (Pb-T) in laboratory Pbexposed Sprague Dawley rats accumulated Pb in a dose-dependent manner with the crown accumulating much more Pb-T than the root, suggesting that the crown may be a superior marker of Pb exposure than the root
Summary
Lead (Pb) is a toxic metal known to cause a number of physiological and biochemical dysfunctions in animals and humans [1]. Pb poisoning has considerably receded in developed countries [2], chronic exposure to low levels of Pb remains a perennial phenomenon in some developing countries. A case in point is Kabwe town in Zambia, with a lead–zinc mine history legacy characterized by an alarming Pb poisoning in adults and children living near the closed lead–zinc mine [3,4,5]. Acute fatal cases of Pb poisoning in over 400 children in Nigeria [6] and 18 children in Dakar, Senegal [7] linked
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