Assessment of the effect of post-natal lead exposure on the hippocampus of developing Wistar rats

This study examined the effect of post-natal lead exposure on the hippocampus of developing Wistar rats. Nine pregnant Wistar rats were randomly distributed into three groups of three rats each, consisting of a control Group 1 which received distilled water and experimental Groups 2 and 3 orally administered with 60 and 90 mg/kg bwt of lead acetate, respectively. The pups of the experimental Groups 2 and 3 were exposed to lead acetate via lactation from dams that were administered lead acetate from post-natal day (PND) 1 - PND 21. On PND 22, all the pups were weighed, and then euthanized. The brains of the pups were excised, weighed; lead deposit was quantified and fixed in Bouin’s fluid. The results revealed a significant (p<0.05) decrease in body weight, insignificant (p>0.05) decrease in brain weight, significant increase(p<0.05) in brain somatic index (BSI), significant increase(p<0.05) in lead deposition, weak staining for Nissl substance and distortion in cytoarchitecture of the hippocampus of Wistar rat’s pups exposed to lead acetate compared to the control. Post-natal exposure to lead acetate via lactation caused an increase in lead deposition, decrease in body weight and distortion in the cytoarchitecture of the hippocampus of developing Wistar rats.