Cadmium and hypertension.

Cadmium, an environmental trace metal, has been implicated as a possible factor in human hypertension. Although the epidemiological studies on humans exposed to cadmium are biased by certain additional factors, more detailed information is available from animal studies and in vitro experiments. The results demonstrate that cadmium influences the vasopressor-induced reactivity and the stress strain characteristics of the blood vessel wall. Thus, it is conceivable that cadmium might contribute to the elevation of blood pressure. But still more convincing data are necessary to clarify the link between cadmium exposure and the development of human hypertension.