Cadmium‐109 metabolism in mice. III. Organ retention in mice ovariectomized after experiencing multiple rounds of gestation and lactation

Abstract

Organ retention of ¹⁰⁹Cd was studied in multiparous female mice 6 wk after ovariectomy or sham‐control surgery. Females previously had experienced from three to five rounds of gestation/lactation during a maximum of 5 successive, 42‐d reproductive periods. Throughout the experiment, mice were provided with tracer amounts of ¹⁰⁹Cd in drinking water as well as stable Cd appropriate for the itai‐itai experience in solid diets otherwise sufficient or deficient in nutrient quality. For sufficient‐diet females, organ ¹⁰⁹Cd content and concentration values were somewhat lower in the ovariectomized group compared to the sham control group. For deficient‐diet females, the opposite trend occurred. When ovariectomized groups were compared with round 5 breeder groups of the same dietary experience, in almost all instances organ ¹⁰⁹Cd content and concentration values were lower in the ovariectomized animals. Exceptions to this trend occurred in hepatic and especially renal tissues, where ¹⁰⁹Cd concentrations were higher in the deficient‐diet, ovariectomized group. Finally, when the deficient‐diet, ovariectomized group was compared with its sufficient‐diet counterpart, significantly higher ¹⁰⁹Cd content values were found for liver, kidneys, and whole body (minus CI tract) in the former group. Conversely, when the same tissue content values were compared between the sham‐control groups, differences without exception proved to be nonsignificant.