Determination of acute lethal dose 50 (LD50) of uranyl nitrate in male swiss albino mice

Evaluation of LD50 is the foremost step in the assessment of toxicity of a substance. The present study was designed to determine the acute LD50 of uranyl nitrate via intraperitoneal route in male swiss albino mice. The selected single doses of uranyl nitrate from the pilot study conducted were 64, 32, 16, 8, 4mg/kg bdwt. Animals were observed for a specified time of 14 days for any toxic signs and possible death of animals. The percentage of mortality was calculated using graphical method by Miller and Tainter. The results obtained from this study suggests that intraperitoneal LD50 of uranyl nitrate the found to be 17.37 mg/kg bdwt and 4mg/kg bdwt of uranyl nitrate can be considered as most tolerable dose.