No meaningful increase in urinary tubular dysfunction markers in a population with 3 microg cadmium/g creatinine in urine.
The critical Cd exposure level to induce tubular dysfunctions is a focus of public concern among general populations in Japan. To answer this question, one group each (about 1000 adult women/area) in nonpolluted areas with high (Area H) and low Cd exposure (Area L) was obtained, and 742 strictly age-matched pairs of never-smoking adult women were selected for comparison. Cd, alpha1-MG (microglobulin) and beta2- MG in urine were taken as markers of exposure and tubular dysfunction, respectively. Geometric mean Cd levels as corrected for creatinine (Cdcr) was greater than three times higher in Area H (2.8 microg/g cr) than in Area L (0.8 microg/g cr). Nevertheless, beta2-MGcr did not differ between the two areas (125 microg/g cr for Area H vs 118 microg/g cr for Area L). alpha1-MGcr was only marginally higher in Area H (2.8 mg/g cr) than in Area L (2.1 mg/g cr), with no biomedical significance. Results were essentially the same when analyses were conducted with noncorrected observed values or values corrected for a specific gravity. Thus, the effects of Cd exposure in Area H on renal tubular function should be essentially nil.
Ikeda
M
M
Kyoto Industrial Health Association, 67 Nishinokyo-Kitatsuboicho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 604-8472, Japan.
Ezaki
T
T
Moriguchi
J
J
Fukui
Y
Y
Okamoto
S
S
Ukai
H
H
Sakurai
H
H
D000328:Adult; D000510:Alpha-Globulins / Q000652:urine; D002104:Cadmium / Q000652:urine*; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D007677:Kidney Function Tests; D007684:Kidney Tubules / Q000503:physiopathology*
D000510:Alpha-Globulins; C025500:alpha(2)-microglobulin; C016001:alpha-1-microglobulin; D002104:Cadmium; D003404:Creatinine