Investigations into the teratogenic potentials of lead in pregnant rabbit

Abstract

The study was designed to assess the teratogenic potentials of lead on pregnant rabbit. Lead in lead acetate (CH3COO)2Pb.3H2O solution prepared at varying concentrations of 0 ppm, 50 ppm and 100 ppm were orally administered to three pregnant rabbits from day 7 to day 29 of gestation. Each mother rabbit gave birth to 4, 5 and 5 offsprings respectively; these were raised for 4 weeks. After weaning the rabbit offsprings, the blood of both mother and baby rabbits were collected through the aid of syringes and transferred to the laboratory for analysis. Total protein, albumin, creatinine, urea in blood plasma were determined by standard spectrophotometric technique and blood lead (PbB) was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The weights of the offsprings were also taken. The results obtained showed that there is a decrease in total protein and albumin and an increase in creatinine and urea in baby rabbits given a concentration of 50 ppm and 100 ppm respectively when compare to the control (0 ppm). Analysis of variance at p<0.05 revealed a level of significance in all the blood parameters while there were no significant differences in the weights of the offsprings. The histology of liver and kidney of mother rabbits also depicted toxicity of lead in mother rabbits.

Keywords: Lead, pregnancy, teratogenic, histology, blood parameters