The Hepatoprotective Effects of Concomitant Administration of Calcium and Magnesium on Cadmium and Lead Co-intoxicated Rats

Aims: To determine the hepatoprotective effects of concomitant administration of calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) on cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) co-intoxicated rats.

Study Design: Wistar rats were divided into five groups of four rats per group in metabolic cages. Group one was fed with tap water only, while group two to five were fed with the combination of 0.327 mg/L Pb and 0.079 mg/L Cd concurrently with graded Mg and Ca.

Place and Duration of Study: The animal House of Pharmacology Department, Anatomy and Biochemistry laboratories, University of Jos, Nigeria, were used for treatments, histochemical and biochemical analyses respectively, between December 2013 and April 2014.

Methodology: Their food was mashed with the same water meant for each group. All the groups fed and freely drank from the water for a period of fourteen (14) days. At the termination of the experiments, the rats were humanely sacrificed under anaesthesia, sample of blood was obtained from each rat by decapitation. Serum was obtained from clotted blood by centrifugation and kept frozen until required for the measurement of liver biomarkers, while the liver was identified and fixed in 10% formal saline for histopathological studies.

Results: Liver biomarkers in serum decreased as the concentrations of Ca and Mg were elevated. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in the liver biomarkers concentrations of all the groups as compared with control. The histochemistry show that there was mild damage to the liver integrity at the lower concentrations of Ca and Mg but as their concentrations were elevated, there was no significant difference between the liver integrity of control and the test groups.

Conclusion: Results suggest that Ca and Mg could mitigate the hepatotoxicities induced by Cd and Pb in the rats.