[Bone marrow morphology and various hemolytic markers in growing rats with alimentary lead deficiency]

The effects of an alimentary lead deficiency on bone marrow morphology and several laboratory parameters of hemolysis were examined in two growth- and one generation-experiments with female Sprague Dawley rats. The animals were fed a semisynthetic casein-based diet supplemented with 0 ppb up to 800 ppb lead as Pb-II-acetat-3-hydrate. The evaluation of bone marrow did not show differences among the groups with different lead supply in the diet. Concerning the laboratory parameters of hemolysis it has been shown that the hemoglobin concentration of plasma and the lactate-dehydrogenase activity of serum were increased and the haptoglobin concentration of serum was decreased in the groups fed the diets poor in lead relative to lead-adequate animals. The activity of glutathione peroxidase and the glutathione concentration in red blood cells were increased in the groups fed the lead-deficient diet compared to lead-adequate groups. In conclusion, the study shows that the pancytopenia observed recently in lead-deficient rats is not caused by disturbed hematopoesis, whereas some parameters measured suggest that there exists increased hemolysis in lead-deficient rats.