Pathological Changes Produced in Japanese Quail by Ingestion of Cadmium

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Abstract
Histological sequelae of feeding 75 mg cadinium/kg of diet from hatching to 4 or 6 weeks of age were studied in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Effects of cadmium were compared with those of zinc and iron deficiencies at 4 weeks, and the protective effects of ascorbic acid against cadmium were investigated at 4 and 6 weeks. Testicular hypoplasia and growth retardation occurred in 4-week-old quail fed either cadmium-containing or zinc-deficient diets. Severe anemia and bone marrow hyperplasia were present in birds fed either cadmium-containing or iron-deficient diets. The morphological appearance of circulating erythrocytes was not the same with both treatments. Both heart ventricles were hypertrophied in response to cadmium at 6 weeks, whereas hypertrophy was not apparent microscopically at 4 weeks, even though the weight was significantly increased in relation to body weight. Left ventricular hypertrophy occurred in iron-deficient quail by 4 weeks. Enteropathy of the small intestine was more severe after 6 weeks of cadmium feeding than after 4 weeks. Cadmium caused decreased granules in the adrenal medullary cells at both 4 and 6 weeks of age. Conditions that were less severe at 6 than at 4 weeks of cadmium ingestion were: testicular development, anemia, and periodic acid-Schiff reactivity of esophageal mucus glands. Ascorbic acid added to the cadmium-containing diet significantly alleviated or prevented almost all aspects of cadmium toxicity in quail at 4 and/or 6 weeks of age. It protected against some changes that were not observed in either zinc- or iron-deficient birds.