Effects of subchronic aluminum （Al） exposure on the function of rat liver were investigated in this experiment. A total of 48 male Wistar rats （4 weeks old） were randomly divided into four groups： experimental groups were orally exposed to 64.18, 128.36, 256.72 mg. kg^-1 body weight aluminum trichloride （AlCl3） in drinking water, and the control group with distilled water. The experiment lasted for 120 days. The activities of superoxide dismutase （SOD） and glutathione peroxidase （GSH-PX）, the concentration of malondialdehyde （MDA） in serum and liver, and alanine transarninase （ALT） and aspartate aminotransferase （AST） activities in serum were detected in all groups. The results showed that the activities of ALT, AST in serum and the concentrations of MDA in liver in the Al-treated groups significantly increased compared with the control group; the activities of GSH-PX and SOD in high-dose Al-treated group were significantly lower than those in control group. Our findings indicated that subchronic AI exposure could result in injures of lipid peroxidation and function in liver.
To investigate the effects of aluminum trichloride （AlCl3） on renal structure and function in chickens, the chickens were injected continuously with different gradient AlCl3 for 60 days to establish sub-chronic aluminum （Al） intoxication model. The AI concentration in serum and kidney, contents of creatinine （Cr） and blood urea nitrogen （BUN） in serum were detected, and the renal structure was also observed by optical microscope. The results showed that the A1 concentration in serum and kidney, the contents of Cr and BUN in serum were significantly higher in Al-treated chickens than those in the control group （P〈0.05; P〈0.01） and there was an AlCl3 dose-depended manner. Histopathologically, in the low dose group, acinus renis swelled mildly and there were no apparent pathological changes in nephric tubule and proximal convoluted tubule. In the middle and high dose group, acinus renis swelled, glomerular cells increased, nephric tubule cloudy swelled, and epithelial cells of proximal convoluted tubule swelled. The results indicated that sub-chronic Al exposure impaired the renal structure and function in chickens.
