Does exposure to cadmium affect organs targeted by estrogen?
To answer this they first surgically removed the ovaries of young female rats, allowed them to recover, and then injected the rats with a single dose of 5 µg/kg cadmium. One group of rats serving as a positive control instead received a pellet implant releasing 60µg/kg/day estradiol. A third group was injected with both cadmium and the anti-estrogen, ICI-182-780. Responses in each of these groups was compared to untreated controls, whose ovaries had also been removed. The uterine responses in these animals were examined 4 days later, and the mammary gland responses 4 and 14 days later. At the levels of exposure used in the experiments, there were no signs of overt toxicity, nor alterations in body weight. Uterine weight increased 1.9-fold in cadmium-treated animals compared to controls. The estradiol positive control also increased relative to untreated control, by 3.8 times. Exposure to ICI-182-780 eliminated the cadmium effect, indicating it is mediated by an estrogen receptor. Histo
