Figure 1
Brain Pb levels in Wistar rats after acute exposure to Pb alone and in combination with Cd (N=6–8 per group). *** P<0.001 compared to control (one-way ANOVA followed by LSD). Pb 150 – the group treated with Pb in the dose of 150 mg/kg bw; Cd15+Pb150 – the group treated with a combination of 150 mg/kg Pb and 15 mg/kg of Cd. Boxes represent interquartile ranges (25–75th percentile), the line within the box median values, and the ends of the whiskers minimum and maximum values within the group
Figure 2
Brain Cd levels in Wistar rats after acute exposure to Cd alone and in combination with Pb (N=6–8 per group). * P<0.05, ** P<0.01, *** P<0.001 compared to control; † P<0.05, †† P<0.01 compared to Cd15; ‡ p<0.05, compared to Cd30 (one-way ANOVA followed by LSD). Cd15 – the group treated with Cd in the dose of 15 mg/kg bw; Cd30 – the group treated with Cd in the dose of 30 mg/kg bw; Cd15+Pb150 – the group treated with a combination of 150 mg/kg Pb and 15 mg/kg Cd. Boxes represent interquartile ranges (25–75th percentile), the line within the box median value, and the ends of the whiskers minimum and maximum values within the group
Table 1
Brain Zn, Cu, Mn, and Fe levels in Wistar rats after acute exposure to Pb and/or Cd (N=6–8 per group)
| Groups | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential metals | Control (μg/g) | Cd15 (μg/g) | Cd30 (μg/g) | Pb150 (μg/g) | Cd15+Pb150 (μg/g) |
| Zn | 11.12 10.69–15.10 | 12.35 11.39–13.71 | 12.68 12.12–15.66 | 12.74 10.87–14.89 | 14.84 11.16–15.40 |
| Cu | 1.99±0.41 | 2.24±0.27 | 2.17±0.23 | 2.26±0.26 | 1.88±0.22 |
| Mn | 1.93±0.44 | 1.38±0.24 | 1.72±0.34 | 1.65±0.40 | 1.90±0.51 |
| Fe | 22.42 15.52–26.35 | 18.12 16.08–30.81 | 19.31 15.85–33.61 | 21.19 19.12–22.86 | 16.87 13.44–24.93 |
[i] Values are represented as means ± standard deviations or medians and ranges. Cd15 – the group treated with Cd in the dose of 15 mg/kg bw; Cd30 – the group treated with Cd in the dose of 30 mg/kg bw; Pb150 – the group treated with Pb in the dose of 150 mg/kg bw; Cd15+Pb150 – the group treated with a combination of 150 mg/kg Pb and 15 mg/kg Cd
Table 2
Effects of acute Pb and/or Cd treatment on oxidative stress parameters in the brain of Wistar rats (N=6–8 per group)
| Groups | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | Control | Cd15 | Cd30 | Pb150 | Cd15+Pb150 |
| TBARS (μmol/mg protein) | 161.36±47.74 | 175.25±43.23 | 309.64±106.78** † | 230.95±47.82 | 390.57±95.15*** †† § |
| AOPP (μmol/min/g protein) | 27.57±6.28 | 24.76±4.90 | 27.68±6.43 | 25.4±6.18 | 24.83±8.83 |
| O2·− (μmol/min/g protein) | 91.74±6.65 | 99.78±17.30 | 91.38±18.94 | 95.13±11.82 | 90.24±7.92 |
| SOD (U/g) | 57.35±10.63 | 47.52±5.03 | 57.73±18.82 | 58.29±5.87 | 49.32±10.92 |
| SH (mmol/g protein) | 0.14±0.03 | 0.15±0.02 | 0.13±0.02 | 0.15±0.02 | 0.12±0.02 |
| TAS (μmol Trolox Equiv. /g protein) | 130.00 87.70–188.28 | 268.66* 232.28–368.51 | 300.07*** 274.71–346.72 | 222.61** ‡‡ 108.48–336.72 | 264.91** 221.20–274.67 |
| TOS (μmol H2O2 Equiv. /g protein) | 2.36±0.68 | 2.46±0.53 | 2.05±0.54 | 2.77±0.65 | 2.89±1.89 |
| OSI | 0.0162±0.0078 | 0.0106±0.0049* | 0.0068±0.0016** | 0.0149±0.0087‡ | 0.0099±0.0037* |
[i] Values are represented as means ± standard deviations or medians and ranges. * P<0.05, ** P<0.01, *** P<0.001 compared to control; † P<0.05, †† P<0.01 compared to Cd15; ‡ P<0.05, ‡‡ P<0.01 compared to Cd30; § P<0.05 compared to Pb150 (one-way ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis test followed by LSD or the Mann-Whitney U test). Cd15 – the group treated with Cd in the dose of 15 mg/kg bw; Cd30 – the group treated with Cd in the dose of 30 mg/kg bw; Pb150 – the group treated with Pb in the dose of 150 mg/kg bw; Cd15+Pb150 – the group treated with a combination of 150 mg/kg Pb and 15 mg/kg Cd; TBARS – thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances; O2·− – superoxide anion; AOPP – advanced oxidation protein products level; SH– total thiol groups; SOD – superoxide dismutase; TAS – total antioxidant status; TOS – total oxidative status; OSI – oxidative stress index (TOS/TAS)