Effects of cadmium ion on the structure and function of rat hepatocyte

Abstract

The effect of cadmium ion on the structure and function of rat liver hepatocyte after oral (88mg/kg) and intramuscular (25mg/kg) administration of cadmium chloride for 14days was investigated by evaluating some liver marker enzymes, bilirubin and  histopathological analysis. The result showed that both oral and intramuscular  exposure to cadmium ion lead to significant increase (p<0.001) in the level of all the marker enzymes and conjugated bilirubin while total bilirubin showed no significant difference (p<0.001). The orally treated rats had alkaline phosphate (ALP) level of 99.40±0.28 IU/L aspartate transaminase (AST), 66.00±1.41 IU/L, alanine  transaminase (ALT) 22.00±1.41 IU/L, total bilirubin (TB) 0.08±0.14mg/dl and  conjugated bilirubin (CB) 0.70±0.14 mg/dl. Rats treated intramuscularly gave values of 114.00±2.83 IU/L for ALP, 116.00±4.24 IU/L AST, 36.99±1.41 ALT, 1.10±0.14 mg/dl TB and 1.00±0.14 mg/dl CB. Histopathological analysis showed a degeneration of hepathocytes and deposition of fatty materials. This result suggests that ingestion of cadmium ion has adverse effect on the structure and function of the liver.

Key words: Cadmium, Hepato-toxicity, Histopathology