Detection of circulating metallothionein in rats injected with zinc or cadmium.

Circulating metallothionein was measured by radioimmunoassay over a 13-day period in male Sprague-Dawley rats that received a sequence of three intraperitoneal injections (at 3-day intervals) of either 5 milligrams of zinc or 0.8 milligrams of cadmium per kilogram of body weight. These amounts of zinc and cadmium produced metallothionein concentrations in the range of 2 to 5 nanograms per milliliter of serum (zinc) and 2 to 15 nanograms per milliliter of serum (cadmium). In control rats given saline injections over the same period the metallothionein concentration ranged from 1 to 3 nanograms per milliliter of serum.