Introduction. Mercury is one of the most hazardous environmental contaminants to living organisms and the central nervous system has been shown to be the main target. Objective. The present work was aimed at evaluating the effect of ascorbic acid on mercury chloride-induced changes on the cerebellar cortex of adult Wistar rats. Material and method. Thirty Wistar rats of average weight of 200g and were randomly divided into 6 groups of 5 rats each. The animals in Group 1 (control) were administered with distilled water, Groups 2 and 3 were administered with 52mg/kg and 26.25mg/kg body weight of HgCl respectively while Groups 4 and 5 were administered with 52mg/kg of HgCl and 5mg/kg of ascorbic acid and 26.25gm/kg of HgCl and 5mg/kg of ascorbic acid respectively, while Group 6 was administered with 5mg/kg of ascorbic acid. The administration was through oral route, daily for 3 weeks. Results. The result of the biochemical parameters showed a significant increase (P < 0.05) on the mean SOD and LPO values after the administration of mercury chloride and Ascorbic acid. Histological observation of the cerebellar cortex, showed normal histo-morphology in Groups 1 and 6 while, the cerebellum in Groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 showed some degenerative, necrotic and cellular changes. Conclusion. However, ascorbic acid administration has shown to ameliorate the induced degenerative changes in the cerebellum caused by mercury chloride toxicity in Wistar rats.

Mercury is among the heavy metals that have been reported to cause devastating health problems worldwide. The present work was aimed at investigating the effects of mercury chloride and Vitamin C administration on the cyto-architecture of the liver and some liver parameters. Thirty adult Wistar Rats of average weight of 200g were randomly divided into six groups of five rats per group. The animals were administered with different concentrations of mercury chloride orally for three weeks. Group one was the Control and was administered with normal saline, Groups two and three were administered with 52mg/kg body weight and 26.25mg/kg body weight of mercury chloride respectively while Groups four and five were administered with 52mg/kg of mercury chloride +5mg/kg of ascorbic acid and 26.25mg/kg of mercury chloride+5mg/kg of ascorbic acid respectively and Group 6 was administered 5mg/kg of ascorbic acid only. After three weeks of administration, the animals were sacrificed humanely, blood and tissue samples were collected for analysis. The results showed there was significant increase in liver biochemical parameters such as AST, ALT and ALP levels in the serum of treated animals (p<0.05). The result showed that the administration of ascorbic acid resulted in ameliorative effects on biochemical parameters and the effect was most pronounced on the liver of treated rats at higher concentrations of mercuric chloride which was dose dependent.

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