The effect of environmental contamination with fluorine on the concentration of adenine nucleotides in the blood of black and white heifers

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of environmental fluorine contamination on the adenylate nucleotides (AMP, ADP, AMP), total nucleotide pool (TAN), and adenylate energy charge (AEC) in the erythrocytes of heifers. The concentration of F in serum as well as ATP, ADP, AMP, TAN contents and AEC of red cells were also determined. The animals exposed to F- (group A) came from farms situated about 2-3 km away from the Police chemical plant. The control group involved animals from an ecologically clean area (group B). In comparison with the control, heifers from a study group showed a significant decrease in ATP (p≤0.001) and ADP (p≤0.01), with a parallel increase in erythrocyte AMP (p≤0.001). The means serum F- concentration was higher in exposed animals (6.5 μM, whereas in the control group it was 4.3 μM). The differences were statistically significant (p≤0.05). Both the TAN concentration in serum and the level of AEC in the group of heifers exposed to high F concentration was significantly lower than in the control group (p≤0.001).