Experimental study on lead excretion and liver protection of lead-exposed mice by metallothionein

Objective To study the effect of metallothionein(MT)on lead excretion and liver protection of lead exposed mice.Methods Mice successively drank 0.55 g/L lead acetate solution for 30 days to form lead-poisoned mice model.Mice administered with metallothionein were taken as MT treatment group,and CaNa2-EDTA injected mice were used as positive drug control group.Results The lead in mice femur of MT group was(8.50±4.53)μg/g,and it was significantly lower than lead-poisoned model group(P0.05).The serum ALT in mice of MT treatment group was(27.44±3.43)U/L significantly lower than lead-poisoned model group(P0.05),but the ALT in mice liver of MT treatment group was(232.83±18.08)U/L significantly higher than lead-poisoned model group(P0.05).The AST in blood serum and liver of all groups showed no difference.The activities of Na+-K+ ATP enzyme and Ca2+-Mg2+ ATP enzyme in liver cellular membrane of four groups showed no significant change.Conclusions MT could significantly enhance the lead excretion,but liver protection is not so distinctive.