Effects of Prenatal Exposure to Lead on Learning and Memory of Rats' Offspring / 环境与健康杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the effects of prenatal exposure to lead on learning and memory of rats' offspring. Methods The pregnant rats were randomly divided into 4 groups provided with double evaporated water, 50, 100 and 200 mg/L lead acetate solution via drinking water respectively. The lead-exposure period for exposure groups was limited from the 1st day after pregnancy to the 20th day when the offspring began to be weaned. For learning ability 20-day old offspring were tested by water maze. For active learning and memory ability, the 20-day old, 40-day old and 60-day old offspring were tested by Y maze. Results The frequency of the mistakes in water maze made by offspring increased with the increase of the prenatal lead-exposure doses of their mothers and showed significantly higher levels in 100 and 200 mg/L groups compared with that of control group (P0.05). But the qualified rates of 0-min and 24-h escape for 100 and 200 mg/L groups showed sigificantly lower levels compared with that of control group when they were 60-day old (P