Ultrastructural study of the effect of chronic cadmium toxicitey on liver of albino rats

ABSTRACT

Cadmium is a highly toxic non-essential trace metal that contaminates the environment due to its wide use in industry. It is also claimed that most foodstuffs are contaminated with Cd, since plants appear to be able to take up Cd from the soil. This study was carried out in order to demonstrate the changes occurring in the liver following subcutaneous injection of Cd. Thirty adult male albino rats were used. The control group [A] received subcutaneous injections of distilled water. The treated animals were divided into 2 equal groups [B and C] and both received subcutaneous injections of CdCl[2] as 0,5 mg/Kg body weight/3 times a week. The animals of group B were killed after 8 weeks, while those of group C were killed after 12 weeks of CdCl[2] administration to study the toxic effects of the drug. E/M examination of liver samples from group B showed vacuolation of the cytoplasms of hepatocytes, loss of microvilli, depletion of glycogen, proliferation of sER, increased secondary lysosomes and swelling of the mitochondria. Intranuclear membranous vesicles were observed as well as the condensation of chromatin. In group C these changes were more evident and the deposition of collagen in-between hepatocytes and in the space of Disse was also noticed