Wheat Sprout Extract Effects on Histological Structure of Skin Following the Administration of Lead Acetate in Rat

Back ground & aim: Skin is constantly exposed to internal and external contaminants that may change its condition and function. Heavy metals such as lead are one of the environmental contaminations. To treat of human problems and pains, medicinal herbs have been considered. One of these herbals, wheat sprout, includes a long background in Iranian culture. The wheat sprout contains high amount of vitamins, minerals and natural antioxidants. This study investigated the negative effects of lead on the histomorphometric structure of rat’s skin and protective role of wheat sprout.
Thirty healthy adult Wistar rats were divided randomly into six groups: G1 (Control group) received 1 ml/kg/day of normal saline, G2 received 20 mg/kg/day of lead acetate, G3 and G4 received 100 mg/kg/day and 200 mg/kg/day of wheat sprout extract respectively, G5 and G6 received 100 mg/kg/day and 200 mg/kg/day of wheat sprout extract respectively along with 20 mg/kg/day of lead acetate. After five weeks, blood and skin tissue samples were collected for serum assessment and histomorphometric studies. Serum samples were tested for determining antioxidant activity (AOA) based on power ferric reduction antioxidant (FRAP) assay and peroxidation of lipids by measuring malondialdehyde (MDA). The 5 to 6 μm thickness sections were made using paraffin embedding method and stained by hematoxylin and eosin, safranin and masson trichrome. For microscopic study, Dino-Lite digital lens and Dino Capture 2 Software were used.
Thickness of whole skin, dermis and hypodermis thickness, numbers of the hair follicles, maximum depth of hair follicles and thickness of hair follicle epidermal root sheath showed a significant decrease in lead group, compared to that in control group (P In summary, Results showed that lead can induce negative effects in skin tissues. Wheat sprout extract (200 mg/kg/day) can inhibit toxic effects of lead in skin tissues and that leads to refreshing in skin.