title: Effects of cadmium on lactate dehydrogenase activities in mouse pre-embryos at various stages.
abstract: A decline in LDH activity from four-cell to late blastocyst was demonstrated in pre-embryos from F1 (C57 female X A2G male) female mice. An exposure to 0.5 or 1 microgram/ml cadmium did not affect the in vitro development of the four-cell pre-embryos and morulae or their LDH activities. At 5 or 10 micrograms/ml cadmium, the in vitro development of the treated pre-embryos was affected. Although most of the treated four-cell pre-embryos had proceeded to compaction, they became degenerated 24 h after treatment. The LDH activity of these degenerated pre-embryos was higher than that in the control blastocysts. We propose that cadmium may interfere with the general energy metabolism of the cells. This causes a reduced rate of LDH degradation, leading to a slower decline in LDH activity in cadmium-treated pre-embryos. Failure of some critical biochemical processes after cadmium treatment may ultimately lead to the subsequent degeneration of the treated pre-embryos.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000201:enzymology; D002104:Cadmium / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019256:Cadmium Chloride; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology*; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009028:Morula / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D002104:Cadmium; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D019256:Cadmium Chloride