Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate whether chronic (3 months) lead (250 or l000ppm), administered as lead acetate in the drinking water, commencing either after weaning (in normotensive or spontaneously hypertensive male rats) or from conception (normotensive rats only) altered the susceptibility of the heart to arrhythmias induced either by coronary artery occlusion or by noradrenaline. Treatment with lead alone had no marked effect on the arrhythmias elicited by either method. Spontaneously hypertensive rats treated with either dose of lead exhibited more ectopic beats following coronary artery occlusion than normotensive rats but not more than those observed in control spontaneously hypertensive rats. An enhanced arrhythmogenic effect of noradrenaline was observed only in hypertensive rats administered 250 ppm lead. Both doses of lead accelerated the development of high blood pressure and in normotensive rats the higher dose also resulted in an elevated pressure. Following administration of lead, blood lead concentrations were elevated to 0.96 and 2.11 μmol 1−1 after 250 and 1000 ppm, respectively. Accumulation of lead in heart and bone was also observed. We conclude that chronic exposure to these concentrations of lead, when combined with high blood pressure, slightly enhances the susceptibility of the heart to arrhythmias induced by myocardial ischaemia.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brune HM, Parkes AS (1949) A complete cubed diet for rats and mice. J Hyg 47: 202–220
Carmichael NO, Winder C, Lewis PD (1981) Dose response relationships during prenatal lead administration in the rat. A model for the study of lead effects on brain development. Toxicology 21: 117–128
CDC (1978) Preventing lead poisoning in young children: A statement by the Center for Disease Control, USHEW, Atlanta
Clark C, Foreman MI, Kane KA, McDonald FM, Parratt JR (1980) Coronary artery ligation in anaesthetized rats as a method for the production of experimental dysrhythmias and for the determination of infarct size. J Pharmacol Methods 3: 357–368
Crawford MD, Crawford T (1969) Lead content of bones in a hard and a soft water area. Lancet i: 699–701
Evis MJ, Kane KA, Moore MR, Parratt JR (1985) The effects of chronic low lead treatment and hypertension on the severity of cardiac arrhythmias indued by coronary artery ligation in anaesthetized rats. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 80: 235–242
Harlan WR, Landis R, Schmonder RL, Goldstein NG, Harlan LC (1985) Blood lead and blood pressure. Relationship in the adolescent and adult U.S. population. Jama 253: 530–534
Hejtmancik MR Jr, Dawson EB, Williams BJ (1982) Tissue distribution of lead in rat pups nourished by lead poisoned mothers. J Toxicol Environ Health 9: 77–86
Hejtmancik MR Jr, Williams BJ (1979a) Time and level of perinatal lead exposure for development of norepinephrine cardiotoxicity. Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol 24: 367–376
Hejtmancik MR Jr, Williams BJ (1979b) Effects of chronic lead exposure on the direct and indirect components of the cardiac response to norepinephrine. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 51: 239–249
Iannoccone A, Carmignani M, Boscolo P (1981) Cardiovascular reactivity in the rat following chronic exposure to cadmium and lead. Ann 1st Super Sanita 17: 655–660
Kehoe RA (1961) The metabolism of lead in man in health diseases. (The Harben Lectures, 1960) J Res Inst Public Health 24: 177–203
Lawther DJ (1980) Lead and Health: Report of a DHSS Working Party on Lead in the Environment, HMSO, London, p 77
Moore MR (1983) Lead exposure and water plumbosolvency. In: Ruther M, Russell Jones R (eds) Lead versus health. Wiley, Chichester
Pirkle JL, Schwartz J, Landis JR, Harlan WR (1985) The relationship between blood lead levels and blood pressure and its cardiovascular risk implications. Am J Epidemiol 121: 246–258
Victory W, Vander AJ, Shulak JN, Schoeps P, Julius S (1982) Lead, hypertension, and the renin-angiotensin system in rats. J Lab Clin Med 99: 354–362
Williams BJ, Griffiths WH III, Albrecht CM, Pirch JH, Hejtmancik MR Jr (1977) Effects of chronic lead treatment on some cardiovascular responses to norepinephrine in the rat. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 40: 407–413
Wittmers LE, Alich A, Aufderheide AC (1981) Lead in bone. 1. Direct analysis for lead in milligram quantities of bone ash by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy. Am J Clin Pathol 75: 80–85
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Evis, M.J., Dhaliwal, K., Kane, K.A. et al. The effects of chronic lead treatment and hypertension on the severity of cardiac arrhythmias induced by coronary artery occlusion or by noradrenaline in anaesthetised rats. Arch Toxicol 59, 336–340 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00295086
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00295086