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Postlactational changes in cadmium retention in mice orally exposed to cadmium during pregnancy and lactation

Journal Article · · Environ. Res.; (United States)

Mice were continuously exposed to 109Cd in drinking water (0.03 microCi/ml; 0.11 ppb total cadmium) during pregnancy and lactation. After cessation of exposure, /sup 109/Cd retention and distribution were examined during a 4-week postlactational period. At the start of the postlactational period (0 time), the fraction of oral /sup 109/Cd retained by the dams was 2.4 times greater than that retained by similarly exposed nonpregnant mice. /sup 109/Cd concentrations at 0 time were greater in the dams than in the nonpregnant mice in kidney (5-fold), liver (2.6-fold), mammary tissue (greater than 28-fold), and duodenum (13-fold). No changes in /sup 109/Cd content of the whole body (minus gastrointestinal tract) occurred during the 4 weeks after cessation of exposure in either the dams or the nonpregnant mice; i.e., pregnancy-dependent increases in /sup 109/Cd contents of individual organs were maintained during the 4 weeks of observation. An indication of translocation of /sup 109/Cd from liver to kidney was observed in the dams but not in the nonpregnant mice. /sup 109/Cd concentrations in the mammary tissue of the dams increased 2-fold during the postlactational period concomitant with a 3-fold decrease in mammary tissue mass. /sup 109/Cd in the duodenum of the pregnant/lactating mice decreased, with a half-life of 14 days. Results indicate that multiparous women exposed to environmental levels of cadmium may takeup and retain in their kidneys, livers, and mammary tissue a greater fraction of their dietary cadmium than women with few or no children. Such results may bear on the etiology of Itai-Itai disease, a disease of the skeleton potentially related to oral cadmium exposure, with an incidence predominantly among postmenopausal women with a history of multiple childbirths.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab., IL
OSTI ID:
5201773
Journal Information:
Environ. Res.; (United States), Journal Name: Environ. Res.; (United States) Vol. 1; ISSN ENVRA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English