Concentration of free calcium in erythrocytes of lead-depleted rats.

Abstract

The concentration of Ca(2+)-ions in erythrocytes of lead-depleted rats was estimated using the fluorescent Ca(2+)-indicator fura-2. The lead-depleted animals of the F1 generation showed an elevated Ca(2+)-concentration, whereas in the Po generation there was no difference in the Ca(2+)-concentration between depletion and control group. The elevation of Ca(2+)-ion concentration of lead-depleted rats could be caused by a reduction in Ca-Mg-ATPase activity in lead-depletion and could possibly lead to a decreased mean corpuscular volume (MCV) of erythrocytes.