Influence of heavy metals on hematologic parameters, body weight gain and organ weight in rats

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of Cadmium and Lead salts on body weight gain and rat body weights and hematological parameters. The experiments were conducted in male rats of the Wistar line, weighing 200–220 g, of which four groups of animals were formed: 1) A control group – they injected drinking water through a metal probe in a volume equivalent to the volume of an aqueous solution of Cd2+ salts and Pb2+; 2) Experimental group 1 – animals were administered a 0.029% aqueous solution of cadmium chloride at a dose of 4.0 mg kg-1; 3) Experimental group 2 – animals were administered 16.6% aqueous lead acetate solution at a dose of 200 mg kg-1; 4) Experimental group 3 – animals were administered 16.6% aqueous lead acetate solution at a dose of 100 mg kg-1 and 0.029% aqueous cadmium chloride solution at a dose of 2.0 mg kg-1. Throughout the experiment, rats were kept in a balanced diet containing all the necessary components, and animals were given drinking water, without restriction, from 0.2 liter glass bowls. On the basis of the conducted researches it is established that at loading of an organism of rats by cadmium and Lead salts in rats the weight gain in comparison with intact animals decreased. Reduction of live weight gain in rats by heavy metal intoxication was accompanied by hypo- and hypertrophy of the internal organs. These changes are related to the cumulative and sorption capacity of these metal ions, which contribute to the development of endogenous intoxication of rats in the experimental groups. Chronic lead-cadmium toxicosis in rats was accompanied by erythrocytopenia and leukopenia, as well as a decrease in hemoglobin with a simultaneous increase in erythrocyte volume and average erythrocyte hemoglobin content.