Lead Encephalopathy in Suckling Rats

The morphology of lead encephalopathy in infants and children is well documented by light microscopy (Blackman, 1937; Pentschew, 1958; Smith, et al., 1960; Popoff, et al., 1963; Pentschew, 1965). Vascular damage and serous exudation followed by endothelial, microglial and astrocytic proliferation are prominent features. The cerebellum is most frequently affected. Similar morphological alterations develop in the brains of suckling rats when their mothers are fed a diet containing lead carbonate (Pentschew, et al., 1966). The purpose of this paper is to present some electron microscopic observations on this lead encephalopathy in suckling rats together with an account on the vascular permeability to Trypan Blue and Thorotrast, an electron dense tracer.