TREATMENT OF LEAD TOXICITY IN CALVES

Thiamine hydrochloride alone or in combination with calcium edetate (C a-EDTA) was used to treat experimentally-induced lead toxicity in calv es. In 12 calves lead toxicity was induced by po administration of 5 m g lead acetate/kg/d until the development of overt signs. The calves w ere divided into 3 groups: untreated control; thiamine-treated; and th iamine+Ca-EDTA-treated. The use of 25 mg thiamine/kg sc twice daily cu red 2/4 calves, whereas 4/4 calves recovered with 25 mg thiamine+110 m g Ca-EDTA/kg iv twice daily. Lead concentrations in blood and tissues were significantly lower and histopathologic lesions were less pronoun ced in the treated calves. Treatment with thiamine+Ca-EDTA was more ef fective than the use of thiamine alone.