Abstract :
Background: Cadmium (Cd), as a common environmental pollutant, has been widely proved to be carcinogenic and toxic to multiple organs. However, the mechanism of low-dose and long-term exposure on pancreatic function is still unclear, especially its association with diabetes development needs to be verified by experiments. Objective: This study armed to explore the dose-dependent effects of subchronic cadmium exposure on insulin secretion, glucose metabolism and liver and kidney function in mice, and to provide experimental evidence for the toxic mechanism of cadmium-induced diabetes. Methods: 30 ICR mice were randomly divided into three groups, each group with 10 mice: control group (pure water), low dose group (50 mg/L CdCl?) and high dose group (200 mg/L CdCl?). The mice were poisoned by drinking cadmium solution and pure water for 14 weeks, and the body weight, blood routine, urine routine, fasting blood glucose/insulin and liver and kidney function indexes were detected. Results: Compared to the control group, the body weight of the cadmium-exposed mice did not change significantly after 14 weeks of exposure to cadmium. However, the high-dose group showed a decrease in white blood cells (down 12.3%), hemoglobin (down 9.8%), and hematocrit (down 7.5%) (P 0.05). Conclusions: Subchronic cadmium poisoning can inhibit insulin secretion in mice and cause partial liver and kidney damage, suggesting that cadmium pollution may increase the risk of diabetes through multi-organ interaction. This study provides a scientific basis for setting environmental cadmium exposure threshold and prevention and control strategies.
Keyword :
Cadmium, mice, insulin, toxicity, liver function.