NEPHROPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF GRADED CONCENTRATIONS OF Mg ON Cd AND Pb CO-INTOXICATED RATS

This work aimed at determining the effect of co-administration of graded concentrations of Mg on Cd2+, Pb2+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ions urinary excretion and kidney histochemistry of Cd and Pb co-intoxicated rats. Rats were divided into five groups of four rats per group in metabolic cages. Group one was fed with tap water only, group two was fed with the combination of 0.327 mg/L Pb and 0.079 mg/L Cd, while group three to five were fed with the combination of 0.327 mg/L Pb and 0.079 mg/L Cd concurrently with graded concentrations of Mg. A twenty-four hour (24 h) urine sample from the rats in their respective groups, in the urine collector of the metabolic cages, were collected daily for fourteen days and kept frozen. After the termination of the experiments, the rats were humanely sacrificed under anaesthesia, the kidney was identified and fixed in 10% formal saline for histopathological studies. Results show that urinary excretion of Cd and Pb increased as the concentrations of Mg was elevated, while there was significant difference (P < .05) in the urinary excretion of Cd2+, Pb2+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ of all the groups as compared with control. The histochemistry show that as the concentration of Mg was increased, the damage observed in group 2 was ameliorated. Results suggest that Mg could mitigate the nephrotoxicities induced by Cd and Pb in rats.