engleski

Combined treatment with succimer and vitamin C in lead exposure - experimental model

Exposure to lead is still one of the important professional toxic exposures. Several chelating drugs are today available for treatment of lead intoxication, and methods for improving their efficacy and safety of application are current and interesting research topic. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether vitamin C supplementation enhances the effectiveness of lead chelator succimer (meso-DMSA) in experimental rodent model. It has been suggested that ascorbic acid is a natural chelating agent capable of complexing lead, and role of ascorbic acid has been investigated in both lead-exposed humans and animals with contradictory results. Forty female Wistar rats (6 weeks old) were orally (by gavage) exposed to lead as acetate at daily dose of 10 mg Pb/kg body weight during eight consecutive days. During lead exposure animals were by gavage receiving succimer at daily dose of 91 mg/kg body weight or/and vitamin C (Lascorbic acid) at daily dose of 25 mg/kg body weight. There were four groups of ten animals: untreated (control), treated with vitamin C, treated with succimer, or treated with succimer and vitamin C. On the 9th experimental day animals were exsanguinated by cardiac puncture in ether narcosis. Concentrations of lead in the femur, liver, kidneys, brain and blood were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry (Varian AA-375, Australia). Results were analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by planned comparisons (F test, level of significance of P<0.05). Vitamin C did not reduce tissue lead in lead-exposed rats. Succimer treatment efficiently reduced lead in all analyzed tissues (by 33 to 70%) compared to untreated controls. Combined treatment with succimer and vitamin C, however, was not more efficient than treatment with succimer alone. It is concluded that vitamin C supplementation has no beneficial effect on lead toxicokinetics and does not improve chelating properties of succimer in this experimental model.

ascorbic acid; chelating agents; lead intoxication; rats; succimer

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