comparative effect of silymarin and d-penicillamine on lead induced hemotoxicity and oxidative stress in rat

background: this study was performed to investigate the adverse effects of acute lead intoxication on hemogram, erythrocyte osmotic fragility and oxidant/antioxidant status and the probable ameliorating effect of silymarin in comparison to d-penicillamine. methods: forty-eight albino rats were divided in 8 groups and received the following treatments in a 10 day experiment in shahid chamran university of ahvaz, southwest iran in 2015. group 1: normal saline as control; group 2: 25 mg/kg lead acetate, intraperitoneally (ip) for the last 5 days; group 3: 100 mg/kg d-penicillamine, ip for the last 5 days; group 4: 200 mg/kg silymarin, orally for 10 days; group 5, 6, 7 and 8: in addition to lead, they received d-penicillamine, for the last 5 days, silymarin for 10 days, a combination of silymarin for 10 days and d-penicillamine for the last 5 days, and silymarin for the last 5 days, respectively. results: lead exposure induced a significant microcytic anemia accompanied by a significant elevation in total leukocyte, lymphocyte and neutrophil counts. erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (sod) and glutathion peroxidase (gpx) activities were significantly increased along with a significant elevation of malondialdehyde (mda) concentration in lead treated rats. activities of sod and gpx were significantly alleviated by silymarin administration for 10 days while both d-penicillamine and silymarin could significantly reduce mda concentration. conclusion: acute lead exposure induced significant leukocytosis and anemia that was associated with increased activity of erythrocyte antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxidation. silymarin in contrast to d-penicillamine treatment was more effective in preventing lead-induced oxidative stress in erythrocytes.