Persistence of cadmium-induced metabolic changes in liver and kidney.

Daily intraperitoneal injection of cadmium chloride (1 milligram per kilogram) for 45 days enhanced gluconeogenesis as evidenced by significant increases in the activities of liver and kidney cortex pyruvate carboxylase, phosphopyruvate carboxylase, hexosediphosphatase, and glucose-6-phosphatase, the quartet of key, rate-limiting enzymes involved in the biotransformation of noncarbohydrate precursors into glucose. Whereas cadmium treatment decreased the level of hepatic glycogen, the concentration of blood glucose and urea was significantly elevated by this heavy metal. Discontinuation of the heavy metal treatment for 28 days, in rats previously injected with cadmium for 45 days, failed to restore the observed biochemical alterations in hepatic and renal carbohydrate metabolism to control values. Evidence indicates that cadmium augments the glucose-synthesizing capacity of liver and kidney cortex and that various metabolic changes persist even after a 4-week period of withdrawal from exposure to the heavy metal.