Chemical contaminations of the environment by heavy metals are
commonly very dangerous. Among those metals, lead is ranked
uppermost in terms of toxicity. Lead particularly represents a toxin,
which affects the developing nervous system with neurobehavioral
deficits. In the present study, the prenatal and postnatal effects of lead
toxicity on the Purkinje cell of rat cerebellum were investigated Thus,
the study attempted to simulate the effects of lead on the human fetuses
and adults.
Eighty albino rats were used in the present study. Thirty pregnant
female rats (10 control & 20 exposed to lead) were used for prenatal
study and fifty rats (10 control & 40 exposed to lead) of both sexes were
used for postnatal study. Lead acetate was given orally to the pregnant
female rats at a daily dose of 1.5 mg/kg from the eh day of pregnancy
till parturition. In the postnatal group, lead acetate was given daily
orally at low dose (10Oug/gm) and high dose (400ug/gm) for ten days
and for sixty days. In the prenatal group, the cerebellum of twenty days
rat fetuses exposed to lead showed some degenerated neuroblasts with
pyknotic darkly stained nuclei. Some neuroblasts were swollen with
clumped nuclear chromatin. The nerve fibers showed vacuoles. Edema
of astrocytes processes was noticed Some neuroblasts showed electron
dense inclusion bodies. The results in the postnatal group revealed that
the Purkinje cells in the rats exposed to lead showed signs of
degeneration as shrunken cells with distorted shapes (pyknotic), ill
defined nuclei and vacuolation. Electron microscopic study showed loss
of cytoplasmic differentiation, swollen degenerated mitochondria with
irregular and disrupted nuclear membrane. The blood capillaries
became dilated with endothelial hypertrophy. Edema; gliosis and
electron dense particles were found The effects of lead exposure on the
Purkinje cells of rat cerebellum increased with higher doses and with
long exposure. So, factors minimizing lead exposure should be
considered .The history of exposure to lead toxicity and the blood |
