Cadmium testis

Sarkar, A.K. and R. Mondal. 1973. Injurious effect of cadmium on testis of domestic pigeon and its prevention by zinc. Indian Jour Exp. Biol. 11 108-109. 

The vasoconstriction, which is caused by cadmium, may underlie the hypertension observed in experimental animals. Cadmium is also carcinogenic in experimental animals, causing tumors at the site of exposure. Also, Leydig cell tumors occur in the testis of animals after acute doses of cadmium sufficient to cause testicular necrosis. This seems to be an indirect effect due to the reduced level of testosterone in the blood, which follows testicular damage. This causes Leydig cell hyperplasia and tumors to occur. 

Cadmium does not readily pass the blood-brain barrier, the blood-testis barrier or the placental barrier, but it accumulates in the placenta of animals and humans [14]. In humans, placental transfer of Cd seems to be very low and Cd is found to accumulate in the placenta [15,16]. 

Gunnarsson, D., G. Nordberg, P. Lundgren and G. Selstam. Cadmium-induced decrement of the LH receptor expression and cAMP levels in the testis of rats. Toxicology 183 57—63, 2003. 

Mason KE, Young JO. 1967. Effectiveness of selenium and zinc in protecting against cadmium-induced injury of the rat testis. In O.H. Muth, ed. Symposium Selenium in biomedicine. Westport, CT AVI Publishing Co., Inc., 383-394. 

Ohta H, Imamiya S. 1986. Selenium protection against the acute cadmium toxicity in testis. Kitasato Arch Exp Med 59 27-36. 

Shukla, G.S., Hussain, T., Srivastava, F.S., Chandra, S.V., 1989. Glutathione peroxidase and catalase in liver, kidney, testis and brain regions of rat following cadmium exposure and subsequent withdrawal. Indust. Health 27, 59-69,... 

Kondo, S., Sugiura, T., Kodaka, T., Kudo, N., Waku, K., and Tokumura, A. (1998) Accumulation of various iV-acylethanolamines including iV-arachidonoylethanolamine (anandamide) in cadmium chloride-administered rat testis. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 354 303-310. 

The lack of influence of cadmium on GSH-Px activity in our studies is consistent with the results of Prohaska et al. (1977) but is at variance with those of Omaye and Tappel (1975). The reasons for this disagreement are not readily apparent. In work with rat testis cytosol, two different GSH-Px activities were found when assayed with cumene hydroperoxide (Prohaska et al, 1977). The larger MW species eluted with the void volume on Sephadex G-150 columns and incorporated Se from selenite, but the smaller one (42,000 MW) did not incorporate Se from radioactive selenite. When CdCl2 was given to rats injected 4 wk previously with a tracer dose of Se-selenite, Sephadex G-150 chromatography of testis cytosol showed that most of the ° Cd was eluted in a major peak of 34,000 MW, but very little Cd was found in association with a major Se peak (140,000 MW) or with GSH-Px activity. Thus, under homeostatic conditions, cadmium does not appear to bind to the major selenium-containing protein or to GSH-Px in the testes. 

Gunn, S. A., Gould, T. C., and Anderson, W. A. D., 1966, Protective effect of thiol compounds against cadmium-induced vascular damage to testis, Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 122 1036. 

Prohaska, J. R., Mowafy, M., and Ganther, H. E., 1977, Interactions between cadmium, selenium and glutathione peroxidase in rat testis, Chem. Biol. Int. 18 253. 

In humans, intestinal absorption of cadmium is estimated at 5% (McLellan et al. 1978 Friberg et al. 1986). Both human and animal data demonstrate that cadmium absorption from the lungs is 25%-50% (Friberg et al. 1986). Others report that up to 90% of cadmium deposited deep in the lung can be absorbed and distributed to other critical organs such as liver, kidney, and testis (Oberdorster 1986 Waalkes and Oberdorster 1990). 

Lohiya NK, Arya M, Shivapuri VS (1976) The effects of cadmium chloride on the testis and epididymis of the Indian hanuman langur, Presbytis entellus entellus Dufresne. Acta Eur Fertil 7 339-348... 

Meek ES (1959) Cellular changes induced by cadmium in mouse testis and liver. Br J Exp Pathol 40 503-506... 

Cadmium (Prostate, lung) Mouse, rat testis Rat lung 2A... 

Subcutaneous injections of cadmium salts in animals result in capillary stasis, edema, and hemorrtiages in the testis These events are followed by regressive changes of the seminiferous epithelium 4-6 h after injection and total necrosis within 24-48 h. The vascular lesions are morphologically similar to those in peripheral sensory ganglia." ... 

Subcutaneous injections of cadmium salts in rats induce sarcoma at the site of injection and may also give rise to interstitial tumors in the testis. " In human beings, cadmium has been suggested as an etiologic factor in the development of prostatic carcinoma" " " and cancer of the respiratory tract. "... 

Functional differences, such as variations in the occurrence of certain enzymes, may exist between different vascular beds. In brain capillary endothelial cells, the distribution of alkaline phosphatase and Na , K ATPase differs between the luminal and antiluminal cytoplasmic membranes. Cadmium is known to inhibit several SH-containing enzymes and it might be speculated that the content and subcellular distribution of enzymes in ganglionic endothelial cells are of importance for the preferential occurrence of cadmium-induced vascular injury in ganglia. A similar theory has been proposed to explain the vascular damage caused by cadmium in the testis. Thus, Aoki and Hoffer suggested that a cadmium-sensitive testicular isoenzyme of carbonic anhydrase may in some way be associated with the capillary endothelial cells. 

Cadmium-induced damage to the testis has been shown to cause h erplasia of gonadotropic cells in the adenohypophysis of golden hamsters. Corticotropic cells were not affected by the cadmium injection. 

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