Altered subcellular distribution of cadmium following cadmium pretreatment: Possible mechanism of tolerance to cadmium-induced lethality

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Animals pretreated with cadmium (Cd) subsequently develop tolerance to an otherwise lethal dose of Cd. Possible mechanisms for this tolerance include reduced absorption, an altered tissue distribution, and an altered subcellular distribution of Cd. Male rats received a single Cd pretreatment (2.0 mg/kg, sc) 24 hr prior to administration of a typically lethal challenge dose of Cd (3.9 mg/kg, iv). Tolerance was evident because no mortality was observed in Cd-pretreated rats. Since Cd induces synthesis of hepatic metallothionein (MT), a higher percentage of the challenge dose might be sequestered in the liver of Cd-pretreated animals with less distributed to target organs of toxicity. At 2 and 24 hr following Cd challenge, no marked changes in organ distribution of the challenge dose of Cd were observed as a result of Cd pretreatment. However, isolation of hepatic subcellular fractions 2 hr following injection of the challenge dose revealed less Cd in nuclei, mitochondria, and endoplasmic reticulum, and more in cytosol as a result of Cd pretreatment. The increased cytosolic Cd was bound primarily to MT which had been induced markedly by Cd pretreatment. These data indicate that differences in absorption or tissue distribution of Cd are unlikely explanations for development of tolerance to Cd. Rather, tolerance appears to result from an MT-related change in the hepatic subcellular distribution of Cd, evidenced by lower concentrations of Cd in nuclei, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, and cytosolic high-molecular-weight proteins and higher concentrations bound to MT in cytosol.