Assessment of toxic interaction of lead and chromium metals in binary mixture in quails: A hematologicalstudy

Introduction Overpopulation and global trends toward industrialization are continuously affecting the environment in terms of pollution. The heavy metals in industrial effluents are considered the prime environmental toxicants, which are regarded as harmful to the surrounding organisms. The current research aims to investigate the co-exposure effects of the two most harmful heavy metals of lead and chromium, on the hematological indices of common quails. Methods An experimental animal study was carried out to evaluate the hematological parameters such as hematocrit, hemoglobin content, RBC count, WBC count, ESR, MCV, MCH, and MCHC. In addition, the behavioral and body weight changes due to these metals were also considered in this study. For the experiment, 12 healthy, adult, common quails (Coturnix coturnix) of 100–120 g body weight were used. Animals were classified into three groups (4 birds/group). Group 1 was the control group which was provided only with tap water and standard pellet feed. Group 2 was the low dose experimental group, provided with lead (1 mg/kg body weight) and chromium (2 mg/kg body weight). Group 3 was the high dose experimental group with administration of high doses of lead (10 mg/kg body weight) and chromium (8 mg/kg body weight). Results The study revealed a significant (p<0.05) rise in the values of WBC (109/L) count (high dose, 21.37 ± 0.55; low dose, 17.05 ± 0.43; control, 13.12 ± 0.43), platelets (109/L) count (high dose, 298.7 ± 7.46; low dose, 231.0 ± 10.85; control, 181.5 ± 8.35), ESR (high dose, 7.87 ± 0.38; low dose, 3.95 ± 0.32; control, 1.82 ± 0.13), MCV (fL) (high dose, 147.65 ± 9.40; low dose, 147.52 ± 1.49; control=116.00 ± 2.04), and MCH (pg) (high dose, 37.35 ± 1.66; low dose, 40.46 ± 0.35; control=33.50 ± 0.65) in the experimental groups. However, a significant (p<0.05) decline was observed in the number of total RBCs (1012/L) (high dose, 1.90 ± 0.19; low dose, 2.72 ± 0.11; control=4.50 ± 0.12), hematocrit (%) (high dose, 40.25 ± 2.02; low dose, 40.25 ± 2.02; control=51.25 ± 1.10), hemoglobin(g/dL) (high dose, 7.00 ± 0.40; low dose, 11.02 ± 0.42; control=15.35 ± 0.37), and MCHC (g/dL) (high dose, 25.55 ± 0.59; low dose, 27.43 ± 0.40; control=29.00 ± 0.41) in the blood of the experimental groups. In the experimented groups, behavioral variations were also observed. Conclusions The co-exposure to lead and chromium induced potential toxic effects on the hematopoietic system in quails alongside unusual behavior and decline in body weight.