Tissue cadmium

Wayland M, Smits JE, Gilchrist HG, Marchant T, Keating J. 2003. Biomarker responses in nesting, common eiders in the Canadian arctic in relation to tissue cadmium, mercury and selenium concentrations. Ecotoxicology 12 225-237. 

Baranski, B. (1986). Effect of maternal cadmium exposure on postnatal development and tissue cadmium, copper and zinc concentrations in rats. Arch. Toxicol., 58, 255-60. 

Table 4 presents results of recent studies reporting CDB levels for the general U.S. population not exposed occupationally to cadmium. Other surveys of tissue cadmium using U.S. samples and conducted as part of a cooperative effort among Japan, Sweden and the U.S., did not collect CDB data because standard analytical methodologies were unavailable, and because of analytic problems (Kjellstrom 1979 SWRI 1978). 

Some elements found in body tissues have no apparent physiological role, but have not been shown to be toxic. Examples are mbidium, strontium, titanium, niobium, germanium, and lanthanum. Other elements are toxic when found in greater than trace amounts, and sometimes in trace amounts. These latter elements include arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, silver, zirconium, beryUium, and thallium. Numerous other elements are used in medicine in nonnutrient roles. These include lithium, bismuth, antimony, bromine, platinum, and gold (Eig. 1). The interactions of mineral nutrients with... 

Silver-brazed joints are used when temperature or the combination of temperature and pressure is beyond the range of soldered joints. They are also more reliable in the event of plant fires and are more resistant to vibration. If they are used for fluids that are flammable, toxic, or damaging to human tissue, appropriate safeguarding is required by the code. There are OSHA regulations governing the use of silver brazing alloys containing cadmium and other toxic materials. 

It is also clear that it is difficult to relate cause and effect to any specific chemical since, with the exception of point source effluents, many waterways contain a multitude of chemicals, of which the active endocrine disruptor may not be that which has been measured in the water or tissue. For such reasons, many studies have used in vitro experiments in which isolated tissue, either from a control animal or one captured in a polluted water system, is exposed to a single pollutant in the laboratory. Such experiments have shown significant disruption to testicular activity by a wide range of xenobiotics, including cadmium, lindane, DDT, cythion, hexadrin and PCBs. ... 

Solutions in contact with polyvinyl chloride can become contaminated with trace amounts of lead, titanium, tin, zinc, iron, magnesium or cadmium from additives used in the manufacture and moulding of PVC. V-Phenyl-2-naphthylamine is a contaminant of solvents and biological materials that have been in contact with black rubber or neoprene (in which it is used as an antioxidant). Although it was only an artefact of the separation procedure it has been isolated as an apparent component of vitamin K preparations, extracts of plant lipids, algae, livers, butter, eye tissue and kidney tissue [Brown Chem Br 3 524 1967]. 

Another important storage depot for toxic compounds is the skeleton. In particular, cadmium and lead bind and accumulate in the bone tissue from which they are released very slowly. The half-life of elimination of cadmium is several years, the half-life of lead is several months. 

Metallothioneins are a group of small proteins (about 6.5 kDa), found in the cytosol of cells, particularly of liver, kidney, and intestine. They have a high content of cysteine and can bind copper, zinc, cadmium, and mercury. The SH groups of cysteine are involved in binding the metals. Acute intake (eg, by injection) of copper and of certain other metals increases the amount (induction) of these proteins in tissues, as does administration of certain hormones or cytokines. These proteins may function to store the above metals in a nontoxic form and are involved in their overall metaboHsm in the body. Sequestration of copper also diminishes the amount of this metal available to generate free radicals. 

Evenson, M. A. and Anderson, C. T., Jr. Ultramlcro Analysis for Copper, Cadmium and Zinc In Human Liver Tissue by Use of Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry and the Heated Graphite Tube Atomizer". Clin. Chem. (1975), 2, 537-543. 

Hindell MA, Brothers N, Gales R. 1999. Mercury and cadmium concentrations in the tissues of three species of southern albatrosses. Polar Biol 22 102-108. 

Nicholson JK, Osborn D. 1983. Kidney lesions in pelagic seabirds with high tissue levels of cadmium and mercury. J Zool London 200 99-118. 

Topping G (1982) Report on the sixth ICES trace metal intercomparison exercise for cadmium and lead in biological tissue. ICES Cooperative Research Report No in. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Copenhagen, Denmark... 

An in vitro study demonstrated that cadmium and zinc have an antagonistic effect on the inhibitory effects of lead on human ALAD activity (Davis and Avram 1978). Cadmium was 40-100 times more potent than zinc in activating ALAD. Furthermore, the combined effects of cadmium and lead in tissue resulted in an additively increased risk of mortality related to cardiac failure in humans with significant relation to age in 80% of the cases (Voors et al. 1982). 

Exon JH, Roller LD, Kerkvliet NI. 1979. Lead-cadmium interaction Effects on viral-induced mortality and tissue residues in mice. Arch Environ Health 34 469-475. 

In mammals, as in yeast, several different metallothionein isoforms are known, each with a particular tissue distribution (Vasak and Hasler, 2000). Their synthesis is regulated at the level of transcription not only by copper (as well as the other divalent metal ions cadmium, mercury and zinc) but also by hormones, notably steroid hormones, that affect cellular differentiation. Intracellular copper accumulates in metallothionein in copper overload diseases, such as Wilson s disease, forming two distinct molecular forms one with 12 Cu(I) equivalents bound, in which all 20 thiolate ligands of the protein participate in metal binding the other with eight Cu(I)/ metallothionein a molecules, with between 12-14 cysteines involved in Cu(I) coordination (Pountney et ah, 1994). Although the role of specific metallothionein isoforms in zinc homeostasis and apoptosis is established, its primary function in copper metabolism remains enigmatic (Vasak and Hasler, 2000). 

Nanoparticles such as those of the heavy metals, like cadmium selenide, cadmium sulfide, lead sulfide, and cadmium telluride are potentially toxic [14,15]. The possible mechanisms by which nanoparticles cause toxicity inside cells are schematically shown in Fig. 2. They need to be coated or capped with low toxicity or nontoxic organic molecules or polymers (e.g., PEG) or with inorganic layers (e.g., ZnS and silica) for most of the biomedical applications. In fact, many biomedical imaging and detection applications of QDs encapsulated by complex molecules do not exhibit noticeable toxic effects [16]. One report shows that the tumor cells labeled with QDs survived in circulation and extravasated into tissues... 

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