Individual and combined effects of cadmium and lead exposure in rats

ABSTRACT

The exposure of humans and animals to environmental compounds is rarely restricted to a single chemical. Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) are two heavy metals known to be the most toxic. Deleterious effects of each metal alone are well documented. Unfortunately, very few studies were conducted to determine their combined effect. Four groups of Wistar rats were treated intravenously for 15 days. The control group received physiological saline solution; groups 2 and 3 were treated with Cd chloride and lead acetate, respectively ; and the treatment group 4 received a combined treatment of Cd and Pb . A significant decrease was recorded for hematological parameters , with an increase in white blood cells and an inhibition in δ-ALAD level. Cell injury in the livers and kidneys was clearly shown by the significant elevation of the biochemical markers. Cd and Pb induced oxidative stress and had adverse health effects at lower exposure levels than previously thought.

KEYWORDS:

• Cadmium
• lead
• combined effect
• rats
• toxicological effects

Acknowledgements

This project did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contributions

Study conception, material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by all authors. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Housna Medjedded. Writing – review & editing supervised by Saïd Nemmiche. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Ethical approval

All animal experiments were conducted in accordance with the ethical principles and institutional guidelines of the National Institutes of Health Guide for the care and use of laboratory animals.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.