Catabolism and tissue distribution of Cd109 in rats.

Abstract

There have been a number of reports in the literature concerning the uptake and distribution of cadmium by different tissues following various routes of exposure. It was reported earlier that following a 4 hr sc cadmium exposure, lung damage can be induced in mice and rats. The catabolic fate of the cadmium in these early events appeared to be very important as the damage seen in the lung may be either cytotoxic or due to direct tissue deposition of cadmium in lung tissues. Further studies on rats for a 72 hr exposure period also indicated that significantly large amounts of cadmium remain deposited in the organs of gastrointestinal tract, lung, liver, and kidney. The present study is concerned with the catabolic fate of cadmium at early time periods via a bolus or constant infusion and its simultaneous organ distribution in the same experimental animal.