Comparative assessment of Silymarin and D-Penicillamin effect on hemogram and erythrocyte osmotic fragility changes induced by lead acute toxicity in rat

Objectives: This study was performed to assess acute toxic effects of lead on blood profile and erythrocyte osmotic fragility in rats and the protective effects of silymarin, as a herbal drug with antioxidant properties, in comparison to D- Penicillamin.Materials Methods: Fourty eight Albino rats were randomly divided in 8 groups of six animals each as follows: Group 1. control; Group 2 rats were received lead acetate at a dose of 25 mg/kg intraperitoneally (IP) for 5 days; Group 3 rats were received D-penicillamin at a dose of 100 mg/kg IP for 5 days; Group 4 rats were received silymarin at a dose of 200 mg/kg orally for 10 days; Group 5 rats were received lead acetate with D-penicillamin for 5 days; Group 6 rats were received lead acetate with silymarin for 5 days; Groups 7 and 8 rats were received silymarin for 5 days followed by lead acetate in combination with silymarin alone or with D-penicillamin, respectively for the other 5 days.Results conclusion: Lead acetate induced significant leukocytosis, neutrophilia and lymphocytosis compared to control rats (p 0.05), but protective administration of silymarin for 10 days alone or in combination with D-penicillamin in group 7 and 8 could significantly reduce this effect. Significant decreases were observed in erythrocyte count, hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin in lead exposed groups (p 0.05) whereas silymarin administration for 10 days could significantly improve erythrocyte count and hematocrit values in group 7 (p 0.05). No significant change was determined in Median Corpuscular Fragility (MCF) values. However, partial hemolysis at salt concentration of 0.60% was significantly higher in lead exposed rats (group 2) compared to silymarin pretreated rats (group 7).Our results suggest that acute lead intoxication induced marked leukocytosis and hemolytic anemia which were effectively alleviated by silymarin pretreatment.