Electrocorticogram (ECoG) and Auditory Evoked Potential (AEP) in Rats Intoxicated with Lead Acetate

Abstract

ECoG and AEP of male Sprague-Dawley rats were recorded to elucidate the effect of lead acetate on the central nervous system. Lead acetate (1.0 x 10^-2M) in distilled water, 1 m//100 g body weight, was administered intraperitoneally for four consecutive days to an experimental group of rats. On the 11th day after injection, the rats were decapitated and the content of lead in the whole brain was measured in addition to the blood lead concentration and the hematocrit. The body weights and hematocrit values of rats in the experimental group decreased remarkably although they tended to recover by the end of the experimental period. The blood lead concentration of rats in the experimental group increased through-out the experimental period and their whole brain lead amount was twelve times that of the control group. No changes in the ECoG of rats given lead acetate were found in this experiment, but the changes in AEP of the rats in the experi-mental group were delayed P2 peak latency and increased P1-N1 peak to peak amplitude.