Effects of Lead on Delta-aminolevulinic Acid Dehydratase Activity of Erythrocyte and Tissues in Pregnant and Nonpregnant Rats. I. Administration of Lead in High Concentration

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Pregnant and nonpregnant rats were administered 500 ppm of lead in drinking water for 23 days. Pregnant and nonpregnant rats administered dis-tilled water served as controls. Red blood cell counts, hematocrit and hemoglobin were significantly decreased in the pregnant rats, but there were no significant dif-ferences between the control and the lead-treated group. Erythrocyte delta amino-levulinic acid (ALAD) activity was significantly reduced in the lead-treated group. In the lead-treated group, there was tendency for stronger depression of erythrocyte AL AD activity in pregnant rats. Furthermore, AL AD activity of the liver and spleen were significantly decreased in the lead-treated pregnant rats. In the lead-treated group, the lead (Pb) concentrations of blood, liver and spleen were higher in pre-gnant than in nonpregnant rats. The erythrocyte ALAD activity is negatively cor-related with the blood Pb concentration in pregnant and nonpregnant rats. A statistically significant correlation between the ALAD activity and the Pb concen-tration of the tissues were observed only in pregnant rats. These results indicate that special avoidance of lead exposure should be required for mothers during pregnancy.