Study on hepatic anti-oxidative ability in chronic cadmium-exposed mice

Objective To explore the possible role of peroxidation in the mechanism of hepatotoxicity induced by cadmium,and provide more scientific evidence in prevention of cadmium-induced damage.Methods Female BALB/c mice were randomly divided into 3 groups(7 for one group).Mice in exposed groups were administrated with 10 or 2.5 μmol/kg of cadmium chloride(CdCl2) respectively,3 times per week,for 14 weeks;mice in control group were only injected intraperitoneally with 0.9% saline.Then,the body weight,organ index,and the levels of cadmium and malondialdehyde(MDA),superoxide dismutase(SOD) level in liver were determined after stopping exposure;meanwhile,hepatic histopathological changes were also examined.Results The results showed that the body weight of mice in high dose-Cd group was lowered,the liver/body ratio,spleen/body ratio,the levels of cadmium and MDA and the SOD activity in the liver were also significantly higher than that of controls(P0.05);additionally,some histological changes could be seen in kidney.While in low dose-Cd group,only found some rises in indexes of liver,heart,spleen and kidney compared with the controls.Conclusion It is suggested that cadmium may deposit in liver and the oxidative damage may play some role in the hepatotoxicity of CdCl2.