RESUMO
To investigate the effect of ascorbic acid against lead-induced neurotoxicity in the rat hippocampus. The heads of 40 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups: normal, control, lead-treated and lead plus ascorbic acid-treated. Lead acetate [20mg/kg] was administered intraperitonealy to rats for 7days in third and fourth groups. During this period, rats in the fourth group received 500 mg ascorbic acid, in drinking water daily. At the end of the treatment, all rats were sacrified and their hippocamps were excluded. Using TEM the samples were examined in terms of natural and apoptotic cells. Histopathological evaluation showed that apoptosis was attenuated significantly in the ascorbic acid group but not in the lead group. Simultaneous administration of ascorbic acid and lead increased the level of Bcl-2 and decreased Bax protein compared with lead-treated only. It seems that ascorbic acid may reduce the lead-induced toxicity in central nervous system