Comparative cytotoxicity of exogenous cadmium-metallothionein and cadmium ion in cultured vascular endothelial cells

Cadmium injected as an inorganic salt is transferred to the liver and induces a hepatic injury at high doses. On the other hand, cadmium administered as cadmium-metallothionein (Cd-MT) is selectively transferred to the kidney and damages the organ. Since the major target organ of cadmium is the kidney and the nephrotoxicity is observed even when inorganic cadmium is distributed to the kidneys, Cd-MT leaked from damaged liver cells is suggested to transfer to the kidneys and exhibits the cytotoxicity after the cadmium ions are liberated from the protein. The vascular endothelium is one of the targets of cadmium. We have demonstrated that cadmium destroys the monolayer of vascular endothelial cells in a culture system. However, the damage of endothelial cells after exposure to Cd-MT has been unclear, this problem is considered to be important for the understanding of cadmium-induced kidney damage as well as vascular lesions. In the present study, the cytotoxicity of Cd-Mt was compared with that of cadmium chloride (CdCl{sub 2}) in culture vascular endothelial cells. 17 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.