The effect of body protein supply on resistance to cadmium.

Six groups of 15 rats were fed on three diets, each differing in the quantity and quality of protein (17.87 as opposed to 8.85 g%, with or without the addition of 0.5 g methionine), one group of each pair of animals being injected subcutaneously with 0.3 mg Cd/kg body weight/day, for 13 weeks. The low protein diet increased the effects of cadmium, rendering them significantly more harmful than in animals which were given the normal protein diet. The incorporation of 0.5 g% DL-methionine in the low protein diet, without increasing the total nitrogen content, diminished the most marked effects induced by the same amounts of cadmium, so that their mean values were not significantly different from those found in the normal protein group treated with the same dose of the metal. The results show that a quantitatively and qualitatively adequate protein supply increased the resistance of the organism to cadmium, diminishing significantly the severity of symptoms induced by the metal.