Changes in urinary proximal tubule parameters in neonatal rats exposed to cadmium chloride during pregnancy

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Abstract
Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were injected intraperitoneally with physiological saline solution (vehicle) or cadmium chloride (CdCI2) at 2.0 or 2.5 mg kg−1 on days 8, 10, 12 and 14 of gestation. On postnatal day (PND) 3, 12 or 49, the offspring were examined for 8- or 24-h urinary excretion of β2-microglobulin (β2-m), metallothionein (MT) and urinary activity of three proximal tubular enzymes: gammaglutamyl transferase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase (NAG). Treatment with CdCI2 did not affect growth or survival of offspring. Significant decreases in the urinary excretion of GGT, ALP and NAG were observed on PND 3, at both doses. Exposure to 4 × 2.5 mg kg−1 resulted in functional deficit of the proximal tubule on PND 3, as evidenced by the significant increase in β2-m. Except for a slight but significant increase of β2-m in 49-day-old males, all the other urinary parameters returned to control values on PND 12. There was no effect on MT. Results from this study show that prenatal exposure to CdCI2 can induce significant changes in the kidney biochemistry of rats in the early postnatal period.