Increased DNA damage in blood cells of rat treated with lead as assessed by comet assay

A growing body of evidence suggests that oxidative stress is the key player in the pathogenesis of lead-induced toxicity. The present study investigated lead-induced oxidative DNA damage, if any in rat blood cells by alkaline comet assay. Lead was administered intraperitoneally to rats at doses of 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg body weight for 5 days consecutively. Blood collected on day six from sacrificed lead-treated rats was used to assess the. extent of DNA damage by comet assay which entailed measurement of comet length, olive tail moment, tail DNA (%) and tail length. The results showed that treatment with lead significantly increased DNA damage in a dose-dependent manner. Therefore, our data suggests that lead treatment is associated with oxidative stress-induced DNA damage in rat blood cells which could be used as an early bio-marker of lead-toxicity.