Effects of leonardite and succimer treatment on enzyme activity in rats exposed to lead acetate

Abstract

The study aimed to research in vivo changes in the enzyme activity of the blood and liver of laboratory rats under continuous exposition to a moderate dose of lead acetate while receiving succimer together with humic feed additive madden out of leonardite. Two-month-old white rats were used to assess the detoxifying properties of the humic compounds leonardite and lignite. To conduct the study, a total of 32 male laboratory rats were divided into four groups, each consisting of eight animals, using the analog pair approach. Rats received a pre-meal injection of lead acetate at a dose of 7 mg/100 g of animal weight (1/110 LD50) using a veterinary feeding needle. Humic feed additives were supplied to animals by creating solutions from leonardite at a dosage of 18 mg/kg depending on the active ingredient. Succimer was prescribed in an amount of 30 mg/kg, previously dissolved in apple juice using a feeding tube 3 hours after eating one time in a day. Upon analyzing the collected data, it can be deduced that the treatment involving succimer and the humic-based feed additive leonardite alongside lead acetate poisoning yielded improved protein metabolism and activity of enzymes in poisoned rats. Notably, in all statistically significant instances (P < 0.05) of improvement in indicators among animals in that research group, the numerical values closely approximated those of intact animals. The key distinction between treating animals with succimer alone and the combination of succimer and leonardite primarily manifested in alterations in the activity of liver enzymes involved in the antioxidant system such as: catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase.