Toxic effects of glycerol in Swiss albino rats.

The acute toxicity of glycerol was studied in swiss albino rats. The median lethal dose (LD50) of glycerol in the local strain of swiss albino was determined to be 4.42 gm/kg body weight. Nervous signs were observed in the rats before death. Organ: body weight ratios of the heart, kidneys and liver were higher than normal, while those of the spleen and brain remained normal. No gross pathological lesion of these organs was observed. The histopathological lesions observed include congestion of blood vessels of the lungs and kidneys; accumulation of hemoglobin in renal tubules; renal tubular epithelial degeneration and desquamation; neuronal degeneration and necrosis, as well as occurrence of haemosiderin pigments.