Influence of Sex and Dietary Calcium on Intestinal Cadmium Absorption in Rats

Abstract

The influence of sex and dietary calcium on whole–body retention of orally administered ^115mCdCl₂ has a half–life of 43 days, distinguishing it from ¹¹⁵Cd of half–life 2.3 days was studied in one year–old control and gonadectomized male and female rats. Gonadectomy was performed at the age of four months. Each of the four experimental groups was divided into three subgroups that were fed rat food with a different calcium content (2.4, 0.7, and 0.3% Ca) throughout the experiment. Regardless of sex and gonadectomy the mean percent values of ^115mCd retention in the whole body decreased with increasing dietary calcium level. Male rats retained less cadmium than all other experimental groups of animals. These data clearly point out that sex and diet might influence the level of ingested cadmium in the body.