In Vitro Assessment of Cadmium Bioavailability in Chinese Cabbage Grown on Different Soils and Its Toxic Effects on Human Health.

Rukhsanda Aziz,Muhammad Tariq Rafiq,Di Liu,Zhenli He,Yang Xiaoe,Kewang Sun

doi:10.1155/2015/285351

Abstract

The minimum concentration of cadmium (Cd), by Chinese cabbage grown on Cd contaminated soils that can initiate toxicity in human liver cells using in vitro digestion coupled with Caco-2/HL-7702 cell models was studied. Cadmium bioaccessibility in the gastric phase for yellow soil (YS) cabbage (40.84%) and calcareous soil (CS) cabbage (21.54%) was significantly higher than small intestinal phase with the corresponding values of 21.2% and 11.11%, respectively. Cadmium bioavailability was higher in YS cabbage (5.27%–14.66%) than in CS cabbage (1.12%–9.64%). Cadmium concentrations (>0.74 μg) transported from YS and CS cabbage were able to induce oxidative (MDA, H2O2) stress by inhibiting antioxidant (SOD, GPx) enzyme activities in human liver cells (HL-7702). Additionally the study revealed that the ingestion of Cd contaminated Chinese cabbage grown in acidic soil (yellow soil) weakened the antioxidant defense system under all levels of contamination (2, 6, and 9 mg·kg−1) which ultimately escalated the oxidative stress in liver cells; however, in case of CS cabbage, a marked oxidative stress was observed only at 9 mg kg−1 Cd level of soil. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor Cd concentrations in leafy vegetables grown on acidic soils to minimize human health risk.

Highlights

The accumulation of heavy metals and metalloids in agricultural soils is of increasing concern due to the food safety issues and potential health risks as well as its detrimental effects on soil ecosystems [1, 2]
Physicochemical properties of soil greatly influenced the bioavailability of Cd to Chinese cabbage and to Caco-2 cells
We may be able to avoid the dietary toxicity of Cd by selection of a proper soil type for Chinese cabbage cultivation

Summary

Introduction

The accumulation of heavy metals and metalloids in agricultural soils is of increasing concern due to the food safety issues and potential health risks as well as its detrimental effects on soil ecosystems [1, 2]. Like other industrial countries heavy metal contamination of agricultural soils has become an increasingly serious environmental issue in China [3, 4]. The introduction of Cd from soils into the food chain is of concern because Cd is readily taken up and translocated into above ground portions of the plant [6]. Heavy metal accumulation in vegetables is directly proportional to the metal concentration in the contaminated soil. Crops cultivated from Cd contaminated soils may be unsuitable or even detrimental for animal and human consumption [8]

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