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ACUTE CADMIUM EXPOSURE AND OVARIAN STEROIDOGENESIS IN CYCLING AND PREGNANT RATS
Citation:
Paisek, M. AND J. Laskey. ACUTE CADMIUM EXPOSURE AND OVARIAN STEROIDOGENESIS IN CYCLING AND PREGNANT RATS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-95/212, 1994.
Description:
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect(s) of acute in vivo cadmium exposure on steroidogenesis in rat ovaries during different reproductive states. prague-Dawley rats were injected subcutaneously on the day of diestrus, or on day 7 or 16 of gestation with a single dose of 0, 3 or 5 mg cadmium/kg bw and evaluated 24 hours later. erum was collected to evaluate progesterone and estradiol concentrations. hole-ovary culture was used to evaluate cadmium effects on the production of progesterone, testosterone, and estradiol, unstimulated, and stimulated with hCG or with hCG plus pregnenolone. iver, kidney, spleen, ovary, placenta, and blood were analyzed for cadmium and iron concentrations. o general toxic effects, no disruption of estrous cyclicity, and no change in fetal viability were seen. istologic evaluation revealed moderate cadmium related thecal congestion in ovaries of pregnant rats. he highest cadmium concentrations, except for liver, were found in the fetal portion of the placenta. nterestingly, cadmium-related decreases in iron concentration were found in several tissues from rats in proestrus and on gestation day 8, and in fetal placenta from rats on gestation day 17. admium appears to interfere with normal steroidogenesis at a number of sites in the biosynthetic pathway with serum estradiol and ovarian estradiol production the most affected. cute cadmium effects on steroidogenesis are most severe in rats evaluated in proestrus or in early pregnancy, while in late pregnancy steroidogenesis is relatively unaffected.