抄録
The distribution of 115mcadmium and its transfer to the egg were investigated in laying Japanese quail. Furthermore, the influence of estrogens on the tissue uptake of 115mcadmium was analyzed in adult male quail. Whole-body sections of a laying quail were prepared. Autoradiograms were made in birds killed 1, 24, 48, 96, 192 and 384 hours after a single injection of 115mcadmium chloride. During the first 48 hours following the injection, high concentrations of 115mcadmium were detected in the liver, kidney, pancreas, proventriculus, uterus and small intestine. Of these organs, the liver, kidney, proventriculus and pancreas maintained a high level of 115mcadmium for at least 384 hours. Minute amounts of 115mcadmium were detectable in the peripheral parts of the ova, forming a narrow ring in the autoradiograms. No further accumulation was observed when the ova were in the growing phase. The secretion of 115mcadmium into the proventricular or uterine cavity was scarce. The high concentrations of 115mcadmium in the intestinal wall and contents suggested that cadmium is excreted mainly into feces via the intestinal tract. In eggs laid, 115mcadmium was detected only in the yolk. Its amount in the yolk was the highest in the second egg and decreased afterwards in the increasing order of oviposition sequence. The amount of the second egg was 0.21 percent of the given. In the male quail after estrogenization, the concentration of 115mcadmium increased in the femur and decreased in the liver, whole blood, and blood corpuscle, but was not affected at all in the kidney or blood plasma. These effects were dependent on the dose of estradiol benzoate. The cumulative contents of 115mcadmium in feces and urine for 192 hours were 28.42±0.73(mean±standard error) percent of the dose given in laying quail, 25.83±0.91 percent in untreated males, and 27.8±0.63 percent in estrogenized males. It appeared that the increased uptake of cadmium in the femur by the estrogenization was roughly parallel with the formation of intramedullary bone.
