Journal of Southern Medical University ›› 2005, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (05): 565-566,572.

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Acute toxicity of microcystin-LR in BALB/c mice

LEI La-mei1,2, SONG Li-rong1   

  1. 1. 中国科学院水生生物研究所, 湖北, 武汉, 430072;
    2. 暨南大学水生生物研究中心, 广东, 广州, 510632
  • Online:2005-05-20 Published:2005-05-20

Abstract: Objective To investigate acute toxicity of microcystin-LR in BALB/c mice.Methods BALB/c mice were subjected to intraperitoneal injection of microcystin-LR at the half lethal dose (LD50) and 1/2 LD50, and the organ weight indices and various biochemical indices were determined 30 min and 4 h after the treatment, respectively.Results Significant increase in liver or kidney weight index occurred in the treated mice, indicating hemorrhagic conditions of the two organs. A slight increase in serum levels of aspartate amino transferase and alanine aminotransferase was observed along with an obvious decrease in serum urea levels, suggesting liver damage. The increase of serum uric acid also indicated the presence of kidney damage.Conclusion The kidney may be another target of microcystins besides the liver.

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