Effects of nutritional factors on metabolism of dietary cadmium at levels similar to those of man.

Several nutrients are known to affect cadmium toxicity, but little is known about the effect of dietary nutrient levels on absorption and tissue retention of cadmium at low dietary levels, similar to those of man. Feeding gradedlevels of zinc in a casein-gelatin diet to young Japanese quail with 109Cd (as the chloride) and 0.062 ppm added cadmium decreased the cadmium concentrations in the proventriculus-ventriculus, duodenum, jejunum-ileum, and the liver, but not in the kidney. Zinc also affected some zinc, iron, manganese, and copper tissue levels. Different tissue concentration patterns of cadmium and essential minerals were obtained with two purified control diets, one based on casein-gelatin and the other on soy isolate as the principal protein sources. The data show that relatively small dietary changes can markedly affect tissue levels of cadmium and that a low intake of zinc may increase the risk to dietary cadmium exposure. The complexity of the nutrient interrelationships and their effects on cadmium require further study to define mechanisms, which may be similar to those produced by low cadmium intakes in man.