HEAVY METAL INDUCED CHANGES OF RAT SERUM NITRITE AND NITRATE LEVELS

Abstract

Nitrite / Nitrate (NO - 2 /NO - 3 ) are well known to be the end products of nitric oxide (NO) pathway, Keeping in view the toxic effects exerted by heavy metals, the impact of selected heavy metals on rat serum NO - 3 /NO - 2 levels is reported. Selected heavy metals like Hg 2+ , Pb 2+ , Cd 2+ , Cu 2+ , Mn 2+ and Al 2+ were selected for the study and albino rats were treated with an IC 50 dose of each metal. All the metals caused an elevation of rat serum NO - 2 /NO - 3 levels of rat serum. It is reported that the heavy metals by way of enhancing rat serum NO - 2 /NO - 3 levels may induce free radical type damage to various organs of rat.