Cadmium and arsenic induced toxicity through a controlled food chain on plasma lipid profile and endogenous metabolites of rats

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the effect of cadmium and arsenic  contaminated through a controlled food chain on the lipid profile and endogenous metabolites of rats. Fish (first trophic level) exposed to both metals [singly and in combination], using cadmium chloride [CdCl2] as the source of cadmium and arsenic trioxide [AS2O3] as the source of arsenic at a  concentration of 0.4mg metal/100ml of water for 1 month were used as the source of protein in compounding the diet to which the rats (second trophic level) were exposed to for a period of 1 and 3 months. Changes [significant at p<0.05] were observed in the various plasma lipid profile assessed. Significant increase in total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein [LDL]-cholesterol and very low density lipoprotein [VLDL]-cholesterol were observed for all tissues for both period of exposure. However, there was  significant decrease in the level of HDL-cholesterol when compared to the control. For the endogenous metabolites, increases were recorded for urea, creatinine, glucose and albumin. The results of the present study provides evidence of tubular and glomerular dysfunction as well as alteration in lipid profile of experimental rats.

Key words: Arsenic, cadmium, lipid profile, endogenous metabolite, plasma.