Ultrastructural evaluation of the rat parotid gland after six-week-intoxication with lead acetate.

Abstract

Clinical and experimental data point to the unfavorable effect of lead compounds on the oral cavity condition. The aim of this study was to analyse ultrastructural changes in the parotid gland of rats subjected to intoxication with lead acetate. The experiment was carried out on 24 Wistar rats divided into 4 groups, 6 animals in each. Group I animals were given aqueous solution of lead acetate of lead concentration 50 mg/dm3(50ppm), group II-500 mg/dm3(500ppm), group III-1,000 mg/dm3(1,000ppm). Control animals drank tap water. All the rats were sacrificed after six weeks of the experiment and material was collected for ultrastructural studies and evaluation of lead level in the tissue dry mass. A three fold increase in lead levels in the parotid gland was observed in group I and a tenfold increase in groups II and III. In all experimental ultrastructural examinations revealed groups in which lead impaired secretion of alveolar cells, damaged mitochondria and disturbed the lipid balance. The greatest destructive changes were observed in group III.