Evaluation of phytotoxicity and genotoxicity of uranyl nitrate in Allium assay system.

Uranyl nitrate inhibited root growth of Allium cepa at > or = 25 microM concentration. Fluorimetric analysis of metal uptake indicated the entry and accumulation of uranium into the root cell. Uranyl nitrate was neither clastogenic nor aneugenic as it failed to induce micronuclei significantly, but between 25 and 100 microM concentration, it increased significantly the frequency of sister chromatid exchange over that of control, implying its genotoxicity that possibly interfered with DNA replication and/or repair process.

Uranyl nitrate induced corpuscular derangement: an early indication of induced acute renal failure.

Erythrocyte structure was studied in rat after uranyl nitrate (UN:5 mg/kg) intoxication. The study of pathogenic progression of UN induced renal failure (ARF) was confined to the early initiation phase (2 hr), late initiation phase (8 hr) and the maintenance phase (24 hr). Erythrocyte structure has been found to be greatly influenced. The UN induced hemolytic syndrome/hypoxia was accompanied by a marked anisocytosis and poikilocytosis during different phases of ARF, which is characteristic of UN poisoning. Subsequent alterations in erythrocyte structure followed by UN administration or during the pathogenic progression of ARF has clinical and diagnostic importance as the alterations were much distinct prior to the clinical manifestation of ARF even at light microscopic level.