Clinical and experimental data point to the unfavorable effect of lead compounds on the oral cavity condition. The aim of this study was to analyse ultrastructural changes in the parotid gland of rats subjected to intoxication with lead acetate. The experiment was carried out on 24 Wistar rats divided into 4 groups, 6 animals in each. Group I animals were given aqueous solution of lead acetate of lead concentration 50 mg/dm3(50ppm), group II-500 mg/dm3(500ppm), group III-1,000 mg/dm3(1,000ppm). Control animals drank tap water. All the rats were sacrificed after six weeks of the experiment and material was collected for ultrastructural studies and evaluation of lead level in the tissue dry mass. A three fold increase in lead levels in the parotid gland was observed in group I and a tenfold increase in groups II and III. In all experimental ultrastructural examinations revealed groups in which lead impaired secretion of alveolar cells, damaged mitochondria and disturbed the lipid balance. The greatest destructive changes were observed in group III.

Animals↗

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Does lead acetate intoxication damage acinar cell nuclei in the rat pancreas? ultrastructural observations.

The aim of the paper is to make an ultrastructural analysis of the nuclei of the pancreatic acinar cells in the rat in the course of lead acetate intoxication. The experiment used 84 Wistar rats, divided into 3 experimental groups, and a control group. The experimental rats were given aqueous solution of lead acetate in a dose of 50 mg/dm3 in group I, 500 mg/dm3 in group II and 1000 mg/dm3 in group III. The control rats were given tap water. The animals were killed 2,4 and 6 weeks after the experiment. The pancreatic tissue was collected for ultrastructural analysis and lead level was determined in the blood and in dry pancreatic mass in an atomic absorption spectrometer. After 6 weeks of lead acetate administration the levels increased 5 to 10-fold compared with the control group. It was ultrastructurally demonstrated that a low dose of lead caused chromatin margination, extension of perinuclear space and folding of acinar cell nucleus contours. Chronic administration of high lead doses resulted in the formation of pseudoinclusions and intranuclear real inclusions of the lead-protein complex. The alterations provided evidence of the toxic effect of lead upon the acinar cells nuclei in the pancreas.

Animals↗