الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Vitamin C (18 mg!kg/day) was investigated for its ability to prevent or treat the experimental lead intoxication [1/900 LD50 of lead nitrate (5mg/kg/day)] in adult virgin rats, and pregnant rats and their fetuses through subcutaneous injection for 30 days. Pregnant rats were exposed to treatment for 10 days before mating and 20 days during pregnancy. Vitamin C diminished the external symptoms and the growth retardation induced by lead. In teratological studies lead induced reduction in the percentage of pregnancy and elevation in the percentage of abortion, resorbed/ litter, fetal mortality, and malfonned/litter. Vitamin C slightly decreased these defects and showed a marked improvement on fetal growth retardation. In hematological studies vitamin C reduced the defects induced by lead, including significant decrease in erythrocytic count, hemoglobin content, and hematocrit percentage. In kidney studies vitamin C showed improvement in kidney weight, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine and uric acid that increased under the effect of lead. Vitamin C supplementation exhibited moderate improvement in the histological changes which were confined to the cortical region. |