Uranium intoxication in relation to biochemical parameters (urea, creatinine and total antioxidants)‎

Abstract EN

Introduction : dDepleted uranium (DU) (as uranyl acetate) is a byproduct of the uranium enrichment process used to generate fuel for nuclear power plants.

About 96 % of the byproduct from the enrichment is (DU) [1], which can be used by the armed forces to increase the density of munitions to help them penetrate enemy armored vehicles and is also used as armor in some parts of military tanks [2, 3].

Aim of the study : to estimate the LOEL (lowest observed effective level) dose of uranyl acetate.

Material and methods : 30 healthy young adult male albino Sprague Dawley rats were used.

They were divided into 5 groups (6 animals in each group), all animals supplied with standard food during the experiment with water).

Control group (1 ml/kg of normal saline i.p.), uranyl acetate treated groups (5, 10, 15, 20 mg / kg, i.p.

single dose).

Blood samples were collected and used to determine the serum urea, creatinine and total antioxidant status (TAS) levels.

Results: There are no significant changes in the serum urea, creatinine and total antioxidant status (TAS) levels at doses of (5, 10, 15 mg / kg) uranyl acetate treated group, while a significant changes are seen at 20 mg / kg uranyl acetate treated group.

Conclusion: These data show that the LOEL dose of uranyl acetate is 20 mg / kg.