Lead effect on DNA and albumin in chicken blood and the protection of selenium nutrition

Abstract

Lead effect on DNA and albumin in chicken blood and the protection of selenium nutrition have been investigated to gain insight into initial molecular events following exposure to lead. The concentration of lead used in this paper is 11.6 μg/dL. Single cell electrophoresis technique was utilized to measure DNA strand breaks in chicken blood cells treated with lead, the DNA strand breakage was observed and the percentage of damaged cells increased significantly, organic selenium (Kappa‐selenocarrageenan) had a strong non‐special protection ability to decrease the percentage of damaged cells exposed to lead. Further study with FT‐IR spectroscopy combined with other techniques indicated that with the addition of Pb²⁺ ion, the chicken serum albumin (CSA) molecule underwent conformational transitions from α‐helix to β‐sheet and turn structures, the binding site of Pb²⁺ ion in the chicken serum albumin molecule were C=O and C‐N groups of CSA.

Key words:

• Lead
• DNA
• albumin
• chicken blood
• selenium