Effects of thiol agents on the accumulation of cadmium by rat liver parenchymal and Kupffer cells.

The rate of Cd accumulation by adult rat liver parenchymal cells in serum free primary culture in the presence of 100 microM CdCl2 was 10 times greater than that by non-parenchymal Kupffer cells. Addition of the monothiol chelating agents, cysteine and penicillamine, decreased Cd uptake in both cell types, the effect becoming more pronounced as the monothiol concentration was increased from 0.1 to 1.0 mM. These monothiols thus appear to reduce the availability of Cd for transport across the cell membrane. In contrast 1-10 molar excesses of the dithiol agents 2,3-dimercaptopropanol (BAL) or dithiothreitol (DTT) stimulated to variable extents the rate of Cd accumulation 2-10-fold in parenchymal cells and by over 100-fold in Kupffer cells. Supplementation of the media with 3% serum had little effect on the Cd accumulation in the presence of dithiols. Intravenous injection of Cd (0.05 mg/kg DCdCl2) with up to a 10-fold molar excess of cysteine or penicillamine had little effect on the hepatocellular Cd distribution. However Cd uptake by non-parenchymal cells was increased markedly by the simultaneous administration of BAL or DTT in 2 or 10 molar excess. Evidence is provided that these results may be partially explained by the endocytosis, particularly in Kupffer cells, of colloidal complexes of Cd which are formed with the dithiols but not the monothiols. These observations demonstrate that the physicochemical form of Cd determines its hepatocellular distribution which may be an important factor in the manifestation of Cd toxicity after thiol treatment.