alpha 1-antitrypsin in cadmium toxicity: an evaluation of its suggested role.

Chowdhury and Louria [1] reported that cadmium could reduce in vitro the concentration and the trypsin inhibitory capacity of plasma alpha 1-antitrypsin. They suggested that this could explain the emphysema observed in some workers exposed to cadmium. Using the same experimental approach as these authors, we could not reproduce their observations. Furthermore, in vivo results obtained on workers excessively exposed to cadmium during more than 20 years and exhibiting obvious signs of chronic cadmium intoxication did not reveal a decrease in the concentration and the activity of plasma alpha 1-antitrypsin.