[Effects of lead on neurone cells and distribution of calcium in rat brain].
OBJECTIVE
To study the relationship between blood lead levels and damage in neurone cells.


METHODS
Young rats were fed with water containing 10 and 20 mg/L of lead for three months since the first day of their weaning. Lanthanum nitrate tracing, calcium cytochemical location technique and Golgi's stain were used to observe changes in rat brain tissues.


RESULTS
There were no obvious changes in brain tissues of the low-dose group as its blood lead level reached 1.67 times high as that in control one. Permeability of neurone cells changed and distribution of calcium in plasmalemma increased and their cytoplasm disintegrated in part of the microtubule in the dendrites and axons of the neurones as its blood lead level in high-dose group reached 2.46 times high as that in control one.


CONCLUSIONS
It is possible that pathological changes found in this study provide a basis for the decrease in cognitive function caused by lead during their middle brain development in rats.
D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D003712:Dendrites / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D007854:Lead / Q000633:toxicity*; D008297:Male; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley