Study of the effects of sodium arsenite exposure in rat kidney by synchrotron microscopic x-ray fluorescence analysis

R.D. PÉREZ; M.E. POLETTI; M. RUBIO; C.A.. PÉREZ; A.H. EYNARD; G. BONGIOVANNI

Riberao Preto (Brasil)

Congreso; XI Congresso Brasileiro de Física Médica; 2006

Universidad de Sao Paulo-Riberao Preto

Synchrotron microscopic X-ray fluorescence analysis (µ-SRXRF) was applied for determining the two-dimensional distribution of Cl, K, Fe, Cu, Zn, As and Br concentrations in slices of different rat organs. The animals received drinking water containing 100ppm of sodium arsenite ad libitum for 30 and 60 days.  Lyophilized samples sectioned from normal and diseased rats were scanned with a collimated white synchrotron spectrum (300 mm ´ 300 mm pixel area). The accumulation of arsenic and copper in rat kidney induced by arsenic exposure was corroborated and the spatial distributions of these elements were studied in detail. Changes in arsenic spatial distribution suggest nephron damage. Arsenic accumulation was also observed in liver but not in brain and pancreas. A correlation study between spatial distributions of the elements was performed, whose main conclusions can be explained reasonable well by biophysical principles. Antioxidant effects or electrostatic attraction explain some correlation patterns under arsenic exposure. The results obtained show that µ-SRXRF is a very well-positioned and precise technique to study the effects of arsenic contamination on the spatial distributions of elements in mammal tissues.