EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF CADMIUM INDUCED HEPATIC TOXICITY

Authors

  • Khawaja Usman Masud
  • A. H. Nagi

Abstract

Background: Cadmium is a modern toxic metal. It is a proven environmental pollutant and has hepatotoxic effects aswell. This study was carried out to look for hepatotoxicity of cadmium in rabbits. Methods: Forty rabbits divided intofour equal groups (3 experimental and 1 control) were used. Minimum Lethal dose and experimental dose of CadmiumSulphate were calculated. Group I was injected with half minimal lethal dose, Group II with experimental dose andGroup III with 30% specific bovine albumin, followed by experimental dose. The control group was injected withdistilled water. This treatment was continued for 12 weeks. During the experiment serum alanine transferase (S-ALT)and gamma glutamide transpeptidase (y-GT) were estimated twice, at intervals of 6 weeks and 12 weeks followed byautopsy at the end of the experiment. The liver was excised after sacrificing the animals. The tissue was processed forhistopathology. Results: A definite rise in the enzymes and changes in normal liver histology were observed.Conclusions: The cadmium induced lesions in the liver appear to be dose and time dependent. The findings of thisstudy suggest that cadmium has direct toxic effects on liver leading to hepatic damage. It is therefore recommendedthat the environmental cadmium pollution and uncontrolled industrial use of this metal must be controlled.

References

Stowe, H.D., Wilson, VI. < and Gover. R.A. (1972). Clinical

and morphological effects of oral cadmium toxicity in rabbits.

Arch. Pathol. P:389-405.

Singhal, R.L., Mirali, Z., and Hrdina, P.D. (1976). Aspects of

biochemical toxicology of cadmium. Federation Proc. 35: 75-

Piscator, M. (1964). On cadmium in normal human kidneys

together with a report on the isolation of metallothionein from

livers of Cd. Exposed rabbits. Nord. Hyg. Tidsker. 45: 76-82.

Friberg, L., and Kjellstorm, T. (1981). Disorder of Mineral

metabolism. Bronner, F. and Cobum, J.W. (eds). Ad. Press,

Inc. New York. Vol. 1:318-52.

Bernard, A., and Lauwerys, R. (1984). Cadmium in human

population. Experientia 40, Birkhauser Verlag, GH-4010

Basel/Switzerland. PP: 143-152.

JAMC, Vol 12, No. 1, 2000

Dudley, R.E., Gammal, L.M., and Klaassen, C D. (1985).

Cadimium-indueed Hepatic and renal injury in chronically

exposed rats. Likely role of hepatic cadmium-metallothionein

in nephrotoxicity. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 77:414-426.

Thomann, P., Achermann. H.R., and Ziel, R. (1981). Standard

animal models of hepatotoxicity, species differences and

relevance for man. Drug reactions and the liver. (M. Davis.,

J.M. Tredger., R. Villiams, Eds). PP: 321-328. Pitman Press,

Great Britain.

Szasz. G. (1969). A kinetic photometric method for serum -

glutamyl transpeptidase. Vol. 15 No.2, pp: 124-136.

Kavvai, K., and Kimura, M. (1976). Morphological alterations

in experimental cadmium exposure with special reference to

the onset of renal lesion. In effects and dose-response

relationships of toxic metals. G.F. Nordberg. (ed.), PP.343-

Elsevier. Amsterdam/New York.

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 1 (2000): JOURNAL OF AYUB MEDICAL COLLEGE, ABBOTTABAD

Section

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

License

Journal of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad is an OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL which means that all content is FREELY available without charge to all users whether registered with the journal or not. The work published by J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad is licensed and distributed under the creative commons License  CC BY ND Attribution-NoDerivs. Material printed in this journal is OPEN to access, and are FREE for use in academic and research work with proper citation. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad accepts only original material for publication with the understanding that except for abstracts, no part of the data has been published or will be submitted for publication elsewhere before appearing in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. The Editorial Board of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of material printed in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. However, conclusions and statements expressed are views of the authors and do not reflect the opinion/policy of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad or the Editorial Board.

USERS are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

AUTHORS retain the rights of free downloading/unlimited e-print of full text and sharing/disseminating the article without any restriction, by any means including twitter, scholarly collaboration networks such as ResearchGate, Academia.eu, and social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and any other professional or academic networking site.