Protective effect of chromium(III) on acute lethal toxicity of carbon tetrachloride in rats and mice

Abstract

Trivalent chromium (Cr(III)) preadministered intraperitoneally (5 mg Cr/kg body weight) to rats and mice protected these animals from acute lethal toxicity of carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4). Some other metals, Cr(VI), Cu(II), and Zn(II), had no effect on CCl 4 lethal toxicity. DL-α-tocopherol, one of the antioxidative agents, showed similar protective effects to Cr(III). Activities of serum GOT and GPT in mice were increased sharply by the administration of CCl 4, but these elevations were depressed by Cr(III) preadministration. Serum glucose levels of mice increased transiently after CCl 4 administration and then in the control group fell to hypoglycemic levels after 6 hr, whereas the Cr(III)-pretreated group kept to homeostatic levels. Lipid peroxidation of microsomes in mice 24 hr after Cr(III) administration was lower than that of the control. These results suggest that Cr(III) preadministered to mice might act as a radical scavenger to CCl 4 to form trichloromethyl radicals which are a major initial product of CCl 4 in liver cells.