The effects of acute or chronic cadmium exposure on the adult mouse CNS: a freeze-fracture study.

The effect of acute Cd exposure (0.5-12 mg CdCl2/kg body wt. for six hours) or chronic Cd exposure (40 ppm in the drinking water for 3 weeks) on the CNS of adult mice was investigated quantitatively by the use of the freeze-fracture technique to examine the nuclear membrane of cells from the cerebral cortex. Intramembrane particle density and nuclear pore density was determined for both the P face of the inner membrane and the E face of the outer membrane from control and experimental animals. The changes observed for both groups of experimental animals were similar in that particle numbers for both P and E faces were significantly increased over control values while nuclear pore numbers were unaffected. For the acute doses the increases were dose-dependent.