Comparative Effects of Repeated Administration of Cadmium Chloride During Pregnancy and Lactation and Selenium Protection Against Cadmium Toxicity on some Organs in Immature Rats' Offsprings

This research comprises studies on the transfer of cadmium (CdCl2) from the lactating dam to the pup via milk and absorbed in the suckling, showing that cadmium is transferred to the testes, ovary, cerebellum, and thyroid gland during development. The present studies were carried out in order to assess the protective effects of selenium against cadmium toxicity in pregnant rats. On the sixth day of gestation, the females were dosed subcutaneously either with cadmium or with cadmium and selenium in the following doses (mg/kg of body weight): 0, 1 Cd, 1 Cd + 1 Se, 2 Cd, 2 Cd + 2 Se. In groups treated with cadmium, no maternal or embryonic toxicities were observed; however, an increase in testes diameters of seminiferous tubules, a progressive sloughing of germ cells, vacuolization of Sertoli cells, and Leydig cells hyperplasia were noted. The reduction in the ovary size and inhibited folliculogenesis resulted in diminution of the numbers of primordial, growing, and tertiary follicles. The pathological change in the cerebellum, the migration of granular cells from the external germinal layer to the internal granular layer, was strongly retarded. Also, the formation of many microfollicles in the thyroid gland which mimic the changes was seen in thyrotoxicosis. It also appears that selenium used at a low-enough dose could be a very effective protection against cadmium-induced developmental toxicity in the testes, ovary, cerebellum, and thyroid gland but not in the higher dose in the ovary and cerebellum.