Interactions of cadmium with copper, iron, zinc, and manganese in ovine tissues

Diets containing 0, 5, 15, 30, and 60 ppm of cadmium were fed to male lambs for 191 days to ascertain what effect cadmium might have on the tissue concentrations of copper, zinc, iron, and manganese. The cadmium content of all tissues increased with an increase in dietary cadmium. The iron concentration of the ileum tissue was significantly depressed in the cadmium-treated groups compared with that of the controls. Liver copper, iron, and manganese were significantly depressed and liver zinc significantly increased by varying levels of dietary cadmium. The copper concentrations of the spleen and testicles were significantly decreased by all levels of cadmium while the copper and zinc concentrations of the kidneys were significantly increased in the 30 and 60 mug Cd/g and 15, 30, and 60 mug Cd/g groups, respectively. In general, cadmium had no significant effect on the rumen, abomasal, heart, or lung concentrations of copper, zinc, iron, or manganese.