Abstract
Frequent absorption of the fluoride causes tooth decay, damage of kidneys, bones, nerves and muscles. The present study was carried out to study the reported protective effect of magnesium chloride on sodium fluoride (NaF) induced alterations in rat lung hydroxyproline/ collagen content. To study the dose response of NaF following groups were studied: (i) normal rats (ii) placebo group, (iii) rats treated with two different doses of NaF. To study the protective effect of MgCl2 the following groups of rats were studied (i) normal rats (ii) rats injected with MgCl2 (iii) rats injected with NaF (iv) rats injected with MgCl2 followed by NaF. Sodium fluoride doses of 10 and 20 mg/kg body weight of rats caused a significant increase (p < 0. 001) increase in peptide- bound and total Hyp content in rat lungs. Administration of MgCl2 alone to rats also caused significant increase in peptide- bound, protein- bound and total Hyp fractions in rat lungs (p < 0. 001). Administration of MgCl2 thirty minutes before NaF restored the altered protein bound Hyp fraction to almost normal levels. The present study concludes that although MgCl2 has been reported to be protective against toxic effects of NaF, it exerts an independent effect on hydroxyproline and collagen content in rat lungs.