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. 2014 Feb 25;9(2):e89805.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089805. eCollection 2014.

Variations in lead isotopic abundances in Sprague-Dawley rat tissues: possible reason of formation

Duojian Liu  1 , Jing Wu  1 , Li Ouyang  2 , Jingyu Wang  2
Affiliations

Variations in lead isotopic abundances in Sprague-Dawley rat tissues: possible reason of formation

Duojian Liu et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

It has been reported in previous research that the lead isotopic composition of blood, urine and feces samples statistically differed from the given lead sources in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. However, the reason for this phenomenon is still unclear. An animal experiment was performed to investigate the lead isotope fractionation in diverse biological samples (i.e., lungs, liver, kidneys, bone) and to explore the possible reasons. SD rats were intratracheally instilled with lead acetate at the concentrations of 0, 0.02, 0.2, and 2 mg/kg body weight. Biological samples were collected for lead isotope analysis using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Significant differences are observed in lead isotope abundances among the diverse biological samples. The lead isotope abundances ((206)Pb, (207)Pb and (208)Pb) in diverse biological samples show different degrees and directions of departure from the given lead source. The results suggest that differences in enrichment or depletion capacity for each lead isotope in the various tissues might lead to the variation in lead isotopic abundances in tissues. Moreover, a nonlinear relationship between the blood lead level and the lead isotope abundances in liver and bone is observed. When the whole-blood level is higher than 50 ng/mL, the lead isotopic compositions of biological samples tend to be the same. Thus, the data support the speculation of a fractionation functional threshold.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. The 206Pb abundance of biological samples of S-D rats in relation to the 206Pb abundance of diet and test substance.
Values indicated are means (n = 6) ± standard deviations. A, B, C represents the low-dose group, medium-dose group and high-dose group, respectively.
Figure 2
Figure 2. The 207Pb abundance of biological samples of S-D rats in relation to the 207Pb abundance of diet and test substance.
Values indicated are means (n = 6) ±standard deviations. A, B, C represents the low-dose group, medium-dose group and high-dose group, respectively.
Figure 3
Figure 3. The 208Pb abundance of biological samples of S-D rats in relation to the 208Pb abundance of diet and test substance.
Values indicated are means (n = 6) ±standard deviations. A, B, C represents the low-dose group, medium-dose group and high-dose group, respectively.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Whole-blood lead concentration versus lead isotope abundances in tissues for experimental groups (n  =  18).
A. 206Pb% in liver. B. 207Pb% in liver. C. 207Pb% in bone.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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