Toxicological impact of lead poisoning on enzyme profile in some vital organs of albino rats

ABSTRACT

The present work was performed to investigate the effects of chronic exposure to lead acetate on enzyme profile in liver, kidney and brain in addition to blood serum of adult male albino rats. Lead concentrations were also monitored in tissues of the previously mentioned organs. Results obtained were as follows Chronic intoxication with lead acetate induced significant elevation in serum aminotransferase enzymes [sGOT and sGPT], however, the latter enzyme was highly affected in response to treatment than sGOT. Conversely, there were significant declines in the activity of' aminotransferases in almost all examined organs with fluctuable magnitudes. Highly significant decline in serum alkaline phosphatase was observed after administration of lead acetate during different time intervals of experimentation. On the other hand, lead acetate has resulted in excitation of alkaline_phosphatase during the early periods of intoxication, whereas by termination of the experiment, the activity of the enzyme tended to decrease significantly especially in the brain and liver. The present data indicated increases in the activity of serum 5' nucleotidase [5'-NT] during various experimental periods, while tissue 5'-NT showed nearly a similar pattern of changes like alkaline phosphatase. Lead concentrations in blood, brain, liver and kidneys are extremely variable during various periods of treatment with lead acetate. With the exception of the blood, all tissues showed upward trends with exposure time, however, marked elevations were noticed in the blood and liver whereas low concentration was observed in the brain