title: Cadmium- and lead-induced apoptosis in mallard erythrocytes (Anas platyrhynchos).
abstract: Cadmium, lead and cadmium-lead (1:10) induced apoptosis were studied using mallard blood cells. The allowable range in concentrations were: 0.01-0.5, 0.1-5.0, and 0.01:0.10-0.50:5.00 mM, for cadmium, lead and cadmium-lead, respectively. The lowest EC(50) achieved was for cadmium (0.22+/-0.04 mM). Two doses from each treatment group were chosen to study apoptosis and the presence of metals in cells. The percentage of apoptotic cells increased as the concentration of metals increased. The percentage of cells with intracellular metals was high for both exposure levels and the quantity of intracellular metal was greater for exposure to high concentrations. Morphological alterations for all types of exposure were related to the diverse range of effects that these metals have on membranes. We suggest that the decrease in the number of erythrocytes observed in specimens suffering from lead and cadmium poisoning is related to the induction of apoptosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Espinardo Campus, 30100 Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: diegorom@um.es.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Espinardo Campus, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hernández-García
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Análisis Clínicos y Toxicológicos, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Tagliati
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Espinardo Campus, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martínez-López
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Espinardo Campus, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: García-Fernández
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D002104:Cadmium / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity*; D019256:Cadmium Chloride / Q000633:toxicity; D002105:Cadmium Poisoning / Q000097:blood*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004372:Ducks / Q000097:blood*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity*; D007855:Lead Poisoning / Q000097:blood*; D009566:Nitrates / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D009566:Nitrates; D002104:Cadmium; D007854:Lead; C017461:lead nitrate; D019256:Cadmium Chloride