Unexpected lack of deleterious effects of uranium on physiological systems following a chronic oral intake in adult rat
Résumé
Uranium level in drinking water is usually in the range of microgram-per-liter, but this value may be as much as 100 to 1000 times higher in some areas, which may raise question about the health consequences for human populations living in these areas. Our purpose was to improve knowledge of chemical effects of uranium following chronic ingestion. Experiments were performed on rats contaminated for 9 months via drinking water containing depleted uranium (0.2, 2, 5, 10, 20, 40, or 120 mg/L). Blood biochemical and hematological indicators were measured and several different types of investigations (molecular, functional, and structural) were conducted in organs (intestine, liver, kidneys, hematopoietic cells, and brain). The specific sensitivity of the organs to uranium was deduced from nondeleterious biological effects, with the following thresholds (in mg/L): 0.2 for brain, >2 for liver, >10 for kidneys, and >20 for intestine, indicating a NOAEL (No-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level) threshold for uranium superior to 120 m g/L. Based on the chemical uranium toxicity, the tolerable daily intake calculation yields a guideline value for humans of 1350 μg/L. This value was higher than the WHO value of 30 μg/L, indicating that this WHO guideline for uranium content in drinking water is very protective and might be reconsidered. © 2014 Isabelle Dublineau et al.
Mots clés
Oral
Aging
Animals
Antioxidants
Blood Cell Count
Cholesterol
Choline
Drinking
Feeding Behavior
Hematopoiesis
Humans
Intestines
Male
Membrane Proteins
Organ Specificity
Rats
Sprague-Dawley
Uranium
Weight Gain
Xenobiotics
cholestanetriol 26 monooxygenase
cytochrome P450 2C11
cytochrome P450 3A2
drinking water
glutathione transferase A2
interleukin 10
messenger RNA
monocyte chemotactic protein 1
multidrug resistance associated protein 2
multidrug resistance protein 1
transforming growth factor beta
tumor necrosis factor alpha
uranium 234
uranium 235
uranium 238
antioxidant
cholesterol
choline
flt3 ligand protein
membrane protein
uranium
xenobiotic agent
adult
animal cell
animal experiment
animal tissue
article
biological activity
brain
cholesterol metabolism
controlled study
entorhinal cortex
erythrocyte count
fluid intake
food intake
gene expression
hematopoietic cell
kidney
leukocyte count
liver
long term exposure
lymphocyte count
male
nonhuman
organ
rat
thrombocyte count
weight gain
xenobiotic metabolism
aging
animal
antibody specificity
blood
blood cell count
drinking
drug effects
feeding behavior
hematopoiesis
human
immunology
intestine
metabolism
oral drug administration
physiology
Sprague Dawley rat
Administration