title: Cadmium induces apoptosis in the pituitary gland of Podarcis sicula.
abstract: The cytotoxic effects of cadmium (Cd) on the pituitary gland were studied in the lizard Podarcis sicula. Adult lizards were treated intraperitoneally with a single injection of CdCl(2) at the dose of 2 mg/kg. A morphological study was performed by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) technique and by immunocytochemical demonstration of caspase-3 for detecting apoptotic cells in situ after 2, 7, and 16 days of treatment. The pituitary cells of Cd-treated P. sicula undergo apoptosis: after 2 days the apoptotic cells appeared to increase significantly compared with those of the control specimens; after 7 days there was no considerable increment; however, after 16 days the occurrence of apoptotic cells had increased markedly, above all in the rostral pars distalis (RPD) in which various cells showed a strongly immunostained nucleus by TUNEL. Cd appears particularly toxic for pituitary cells in the lizard P. sicula; a single high intraperitoneal dose of CdCl(2) induces apoptosis, in particular in the RPD, and this effect appears irreversible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Section of Evolutionary and Comparative Biology, University Federico II of Naples, Naples, Italy. ida.ferrandino@unina.it
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ferrandino
authors.forename: Rossana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Favorito
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Annunziata
authors.forename: Maria Consiglio
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Grimaldi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D002104:Cadmium / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects*; D014714:Vertebrates
chemical_list: D002104:Cadmium