Pregnancy-associated changes in plasma metallothionein concentration and renal cadmium accumulation in rats

Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine
H M ChanR A Goyer

Abstract

Pregnancy-associated changes in metallothionein (MT) concentrations in blood plasma were examined using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with a rabbit polyclonal antibody to rat liver MT. Plasma MT of pregnant rats significantly increased after 8 days of gestation and remained high during pregnancy and for 7 days after delivery. Gel filtration showed that both Cu and Zn were associated with the plasma MT of pregnant rats. These results suggest that plasma MT may play a role in the transport of essential metals such as Cu and Zn to fetus during pregnancy, but the source of plasma MT is unknown. Injections of cadmium chloride and cadmium-metallothionein to pregnant rats further increased the plasma MT concentrations. After injection of CdCl2, both MT and Cd concentrations in the liver of the pregnant rats were significantly lower than those of the nonpregnant rats, whereas renal Cd and MT levels were higher in pregnant rats. This increased accumulation of Cd in the kidney of pregnant rats may be related to the increase of plasma MT during pregnancy. About 5% of 6 pg of in vitro added Cd (20 pg/ml) was bound to the MT in the plasma. Therefore, Cd may be transported by the circulating MT to the kidney, leading to an ...Continue Reading

Citations

Jan 1, 1996·Biological Trace Element Research·M HernandezJ M Llobet
Feb 27, 2001·Toxicological Sciences : an Official Journal of the Society of Toxicology·D SolaimanM H Bhattacharyya
Mar 4, 2009·Experimental Eye Research·N K WillsF J G M van Kuijk
May 1, 2004·Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology·Kierstin Petersson GrawéAgneta Oskarsson
Oct 21, 2015·Metallomics : Integrated Biometal Science·Frank Thévenod, Natascha A Wolff
Jul 9, 2005·The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition·Carmen M DonangeloJanet C King
Apr 21, 2020·Conservation Physiology·Casey T ClarkNicole Misarti

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