Female reproduction and pup survival and growth for mice fed a cadmium-containing purified diet through six consecutive rounds of gestation and lactation

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1988 · J. Toxicol. Environ. Health; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/15287398809531165· OSTI ID:6676570

Whelton, B D; Bhattacharyya, M H; Carnes, B A; Moretti, E S; Peterson, D P

Female CF1 mice were bred for 6 consecutive, 42-d rounds of gestation-lactation. Their purified diets contained cadmium added at either 0.25, 5.0, or 50.0 ppm Cd; at each cadmium level, the diets were either sufficient or deficient in certain vitamins, minerals, and fat. The deficient diet at 5 ppm cadmium was designed to simulate conditions implicated in the etiology of itai-itai disease among multiparous women in Japan, Fertility, litter size, pup survival, and pup growth (weaning weight) are reported for mice on the six diets during each of the six rounds of gestation/lactation. Except for fertility, decreases in reproductive measures that occurred in response to dietary deficiencies of cadmium during round 1 or reproduction were repeated, unchanged in magnitude, in each successive round. For sufficient diet groups, 50 ppm cadmium had no effect on fertility or pup survival during lactation, but caused a 15% decrease in litter size at birth and a 25% decrease in pup growth. Dietary deficiencies alone decreased all four measures of reproductive performance; fertility by 12%, litter size by 30%, pup survival by 18%, and pup growth by 42%. In addition, dietary deficiencies strikingly decreased the incidence of consecutive pregnancies. Combined effects of 50 ppm cadmium and dietary deficiencies were additive for all reproductive measures except fertility; for fertility, cadmium caused no decrease in the fertility of sufficient-diet animals, but caused a striking 45% decrease in deficient-diet animals. Relating the authors results to humans, women who contracted the itai-itai disease (analogous to mice on the deficient, 5 ppm cadmium diet), in addition to their characteristic bone disease, could have experienced decreases in fertility and in growth of their offspring related to their dietary deficiencies.

• Research Organization: Eastern Washington Univ., Cheney (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31-109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6676570
• Journal Information: J. Toxicol. Environ. Health; (United States), Vol. 24:3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
CADMIUM
TOXICITY
MICE
SENSITIVITY
NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCY
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
ANIMAL GROWTH
ETIOLOGY
FERTILITY
REPRODUCTION
SKELETAL DISEASES
SURVIVAL CURVES
ANIMALS
DISEASES
ELEMENTS
GROWTH
MAMMALS
METALS
RODENTS
VERTEBRATES
560300* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology