Effect of acute administration of cadmium on distribution of zinc in the hamster.

Acute administration of sc doses of Cd (1mg/kg . d, 3 or 6 d) to male golden hamsters resulted in a remarkable dose-dependent increase of Zn in the liver and kidney. In contrast, Zn contents in the heart and testes showed a significant dose-dependent decrease. No change was found in Zn contents of the bone. The correlation coefficients between contents of Cd and Zn in the liver and kidney were much higher in metallothionein fractions than in the corresponding whole organs. These results suggest that Cd induces the synthesis of metallothionein in the liver and kidney, leading to simultaneous accumulation of Cd and Zn in the organs; this in turn decreases the Zn contents in other organs, where weak or no induction of metallothionein synthesis takes place. Therefore Cd might induce Zn deficiency in humans or animals whose pool size and intake of Zn are marginal.