Effect of Chromium on Certain Aspects of Metabolic Toxicities

Abstract

The impact of chromium exposure was studied in the liver, kidney, testis, spleen, cerebrum, and cerebellum of male Wistar rats (80-100 g body weight). It was observed that treatment of rats with chromium (ip, at a dose of 0.8 mg/100 g body weight/day) for a period of 28 days caused significant increase in chromium content while lowering the body weight along with the organ weight, except for the liver. It was also observed that there was a significant decrease in the DNA content of various organs tested. Also, a significant decrease in RNA content was observed in all the organs tested except for the testes. The liver, cerebrum, and cerebellum showed significant decreases in total protein content in chromium-treated animals, whereas the kidney, testes, and spleen showed insignificant alterations. The RNase activity was found to be significantly increased only in the testes and cerebrum. Pronase activity was significantly increased in the tissues, except for the liver. The glutamic-pyruvic acid transaminase activity decreased in all the tissues studied. On the other hand, glutamic-oxaloacetic acid transaminase activity increased in the liver, cerebrum, and cerebellum while decreasing in the kidney and spleen. It is suggested that chromium exposure at the present dose and duration induces metabolic toxicity in the form of depressive effects on nucleic acids and altered activities of RNase, pronase, and transaminases in tissues. The extent of such alterations varies from tissue to tissue and is in some cases diverse in nature.