Skeletal changes in multiparous mice fed a nutrient-sufficient diet containing cadmium.
Female mice were given nutrient-sufficient, purified diets containing either 0.25, 5, or 50 ppm Cd. One-half of the females were bred for 6 consecutive 42-day rounds of pregnancy/lactation (PL mice); remaining females were non-pregnant controls (NP mice). PL mice and NP controls were sacrificed after 1, 2, 4, or 6 consecutive rounds of pregnancy/lactation. No consistent, cadmium-dependent decreases in body weight, femur calcium content, or calcium/dry weight (Ca/DW) ratio occurred among the NP mice during the 252 days of cadmium exposure. In contrast, significant, cadmium-dependent decreases in body weight (3-11%), femur calcium content (15-27%), and Ca/DW ratio (5-7%) occurred in the multiparous mice exposed to 50 vs 0.25 ppm Cd. In addition, among the PL mice, the effect of cadmium was dose-dependent, with femur calcium contents decreasing significantly as the cadmium exposure level increased from 0.25 to 5 then 50 ppm Cd (P less than 0.05). Results demonstrate that dietary cadmium exposure had a greater effect on the skeletons of dams exposed to cadmium during the stresses of pregnancy and lactation than in non-pregnant controls. The results provide evidence that the combination of cadmium exposure and multiparity may have played a role in the etiology of Itai-Itai disease in Japan.
Bhattacharyya
M H
MH
Environmental Health Section, Argonne National Laboratory, IL 60439.
Whelton
B D
BD
Peterson
D P
DP
Carnes
B A
BA
Moretti
E S
ES
Toomey
J M
JM
Williams
L L
LL
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000032:analysis / Q000187:drug effects*; D002104:Cadmium / Q000633:toxicity*; D002118:Calcium / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D007774:Lactation; D051379:Mice; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
D002104:Cadmium; D002118:Calcium