Effect of zinc or S-adenosyl-l-methionine on long term administration of low doses of lead to rats.

Two alternatives for the treatment of lead intoxication, administration of zinc or a thiol donor, S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM), were analysed. Rats were exposed to lead (Pb)-acetate (60 mg/l) in drinking water during 90 days; one group also received SO4Zn in water (40 mg/l), while another received both Pb and SAM (5 mg/24 hr intraperitoneally. Erythrocytic delta-aminolaevulinic dehydratase (ALA-D) activity was significantly reduced (P < 0.001) both in rats receiving Pb alone and in rats receiving Pb and each of the other two treatments. The high erythrocytic uroporphyrinogen synthetase (URO-S) activity noticed in Pb administered rats, was significantly (P < 0.001) reduced in animals treated either with zinc or with SAM. Hepatic ALA-D activity tended to decrease while renal enzyme activity was not modified by the low level Pb exposure used in this work. Interestingly, SAM treated rats in both tissues exhibited significantly (P < 0.01) higher activities of the enzyme. It is argued that SAM treatment causes a surplus of thiols that allows the full expression of ALA-D catalytic activity.