Laboratory for Microscopy and Microanalysis, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
J Environ Sci Health A Tox Hazard Subst Environ Eng. 2020;55(8):925-934. doi: 10.1080/10934529.2020.1756158. Epub 2020 May 18.
The mining sector in South Africa is expected to be the fifth largest in the world. Both mining and transport are the most common reasons for an increased risk of human exposure to heavy metal contamination in South Africa. Due to increasing amounts of metals in the environment, this study identified three metals cadmium, chromium and mercury based on the risk of exposure in South Africa. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in the morphology of the spleen tissue of male Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to these metals alone and in combination by using light microscopy. Forty eight animals in eight experimental groups were exposed, via oral gavage, to these metals at 1000× the World Health Organization's acceptable water limits of each respective metal, alone and in combination, for 28 days. Changes in the histological structure of the spleen were observed using haematoxylin and eosin and picrosirius red staining. Necrosis was observed in all the groups, with the severity varying between the different exposure groups, alone or in combination. Fibrosis in the spleen tissue was only seen in the experimental groups exposed to cadmium and mercury respectively, as well as in the combination of cadmium and mercury.
南非的采矿业预计将成为世界第五大采矿业。矿业和运输业是南非人类接触重金属污染风险增加的两个最常见原因。由于环境中金属含量的增加，本研究根据南非的暴露风险，确定了三种金属：镉、铬和汞。本研究的目的是通过光学显微镜观察单独和联合暴露于这些金属的雄性 Sprague-Dawley 大鼠脾组织形态的变化。四十八只动物被分为八个实验组，通过口服灌胃，以世界卫生组织可接受的每种金属的水限量的 1000 倍单独和联合的方式，连续 28 天接触这些金属。使用苏木精和伊红以及苦味酸天狼猩红染色观察脾组织的组织学结构变化。所有组均观察到了组织坏死，不同暴露组之间的严重程度不同，无论是单独暴露还是联合暴露。脾组织纤维化仅见于分别暴露于镉和汞以及镉和汞联合暴露的实验组。
