Histological and biochemical study of the effects of cadmium alone or associated with selenium in the rat

This work was carried out to investigate the effect of cadmium [Cd] given alone in a subacute dose or in association with selenium [Se] on the structure of the rat liver, kidney, heart and cerebellum. In addition, the levels of the enzyme glutathione peroxidase [GBH-Px] and reduced glutathione [GSH]as lipid peroxidation were assessed biochemically in both cases. Ten days after Cd treatments, the effect extended to involve all the investigated organs. However, the liver was the least affected one. It showed clumping of the cellular organelles mitochondrial inclusions and accumulation of cytoplasmic fibrillar material. The effect on the kidney was highly destructive mainly involving the proximal convoluted tubules and to a lesser extent the distal convoluted tubules. The heart showed mitochondrial destruction and degeneration of the myofilaments. In the cerebellar cortex, there was loss of the organelles particularly in the peripheral part. These changes were correlated with the oxidative stress induced by Cd. This was confirmed by the marked depletion of GSH, reduction of GSH-Px and increased lipid peroxidation detected biochemically