Investigation of acute lead poisoning on apoptosis in rat hippocampus in vivo.
Despite decades of study, the exact mechanism of action of lead, a potent neurotoxic agent, have not been fully elucidated. One of the suggested mechanism of lead neurotoxicity is apoptotic cell death. The present study sought to examine the effect of acute lead poisoning on apoptosis in rat hippocampus. Two to four and 12-14 week old rats were treated for 7 days with 15 mg/kg daily dose of lead acetate intraperitoneally. Control animals received distilled water. In treated groups, the blood lead levels was increased by about 17-19-folds. Histological study of hippocampus revealed apoptotic cells, using light and electron microscopy. In Western blot analysis, the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 protein expression in hippocampus was significantly increased compared to controls. In conclusion, the lead induced cell death in hippocampus in vivo may partly be due to apoptosis.
Sharifi
Ali M
AM
Department of Pharmacology and Cellular and Molecular Research Center, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 14155-6183, Tehran, Iran. sharifal@yahoo.com
Baniasadi
Shadi
S
Jorjani
Masoomeh
M
Rahimi
Farzaneh
F
Bakhshayesh
Masoomeh
M
D000208:Acute Disease; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D015153:Blotting, Western; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D020263:Lead Poisoning, Nervous System / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009474:Neurons / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein
C494828:Bax protein, rat; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein