title: Reduced retention of cadmium in the liver of metallothionein-null mice.
abstract: The distribution of cadmium (Cd) in the organs of mice was studied using metallothionein (MT)-null transgenic mice. When mice were administered with Cd chloride at a single subcutaneous dose of 1.0 mg Cd/kg body weight, Cd accumulated mainly in the liver and kidney by 6 h after injection without any significant difference between the MT-null mice and control (C57BL/6J) mice. MT was not detected in these organs of MT-null mice both before and after Cd administration whereas MT was induced mainly in these organs of the control mice. There was a marked elimination of Cd from the liver of MT-null mice by 21 days after administration, compared with a relatively slow Cd elimination in the C57BL/6J mice. Under the condition that no significant liver or kidney damage was observed, MT was considered to play a significant role in the retention of Cd in the liver but not in the uptake of this metal.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Health Sciences Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tohyama
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kodama
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Choo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Michalska
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kanayama
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Naganuma