Toxic Effect of Fluoride on Biochemical Parameters and Collagen Metabolism in Osseous and Non-Osseous Tissues of Rats

The present study was carried out to assess the effects of fluoride exposure on collagen metabolism by evaluating the level of hydroxyproline in both osseous and non-osseous tissues along with serum biochemical parameters in rats. Eight week old female rats were divided into two equal groups of six rats each. Rats of group I served as control and received only tap water while those of group II received 200 mg NaF/L in their drinking water ad libitum for a period of 90 days. Significant increase in the level of serum glucose, urea, creatinine, phosphorus and decrease in concentration of calcium and total protein were observed in fluoride exposed rats as compared to respective healthy control rats on different observation periods. Activities of serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine transaminase and alkaline phosphatase were significantly higher in fluoride exposed rats as compared with respective control rats. On day 90, the increase in hydroxyproline concentration in urine of fluoride exposed rats was 54.75 % over control rats. Hydroxyproline concentration in the muscle (452.10 ± 22.54 µg/gm), liver (238.43 ± 26.16 µg/gm), kidney (1,350.91 ± 27.50 µg/gm), femur (20.21 ± 0.59 mg/gm) and tibia (19.76 ± 0.51 mg/gm) of fluoride exposed rats was significantly reduced as compared to healthy control rats (817.51 ± 32.06 μg/gm, 311.63 ± 10.07 μg/gm, 1,486.33 ± 22.68 μg/gm, 24.18 ± 0.56 mg/gm and 25.44 ± 0.41 mg/gm, respectively) at the end of the 90-day experiment. © 2014, The National Academy of Sciences, India.