Trace Elements in Medicine (Moscow)
2021, 22(1): 72-77
ORIGINAL PAPERS

ASSESSMENT OF THE FUNCTIONAL STATE OF THE LIVER AND KIDNEYS OF LABORATORY ANIMALS AFTER EXPOSURE TO CADMIUM IN A SUB-EXPERIMENT

D.A. Smolyankin¹, G.V. Timasheva¹, N.Yu. Khusnutdinova¹, S.S. Baygildin^1,2, E.F. Repina¹, A.S. Fazlyeva¹, M.M. Ziatdinova¹, Ya.V. Valova^1,2

¹ Ufa Research Institute of Occupational Medicine and Human Ecology, 94, str. Kuvykina, Ufa, 450106, Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia
² Bashkir State University, 32, str. Zaki Validi, Ufa, 450076, Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia

DOI: 10.19112/2413-6174-2021-22-1-72-77 

ABSTRACT. The paper presents the results of studies of metabolic changes in the blood serum of rats on the background of oral administration of cadmium chloride for 2 months. Elevated serum hepatic enzymes are the main indicator of damage to hepatocytes caused by cadmium poisoning. It was shown that in three experimental groups of rats, which were intragastrically injected with CdCl2, the level of activity of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase was significantly increased compared to the control; on average, the increase in biochemical parameters was 31.8%, 12.9% and 21.9%, respectively. A decrease in the alkaline phosphatase activity in the blood serum of experimental animals, depending on the increase in the dose of the pollutant, is a consequence of the degree of heavy metal damage to the epithelium of the bile ducts. High levels of biochemical parameters of the renal profile, uric acid (UA) and urea, due to impaired glomerular filtration are shown. The noted decrease in the concentration of UA (by 22,3 %) in the 1st experimental group of rats to the level of 87,4±11,6 μmol/L, relative to the negative control (112,5±4,0 μmol/L), indicates a general pathology of the urinary systems induced by heavy metal. The revealed deviations in the indicators of the main biochemical markers of liver and kidney damage serve as a reliable argument characterizing cadmium as a pronounced hepato- and nephrotoxicant.

KEYWORDS: heavy metals, cadmium, hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, biochemical markers, blood serum, laboratory animals.