The effects of dietary selenium on cadmium binding in rat kidney and liver

In acute studies, approximately 70-90% of cytosolic cadmium in liver and kidney has been shown to be bound to metallothionein, a low-molecular weight protein. In this study, we report on the influence of dietary selenium on the distribution of cadmium in rat kidney and liver. Contrary to the findings of most acute studies, our results indicate that only a relatively small proportion of cadmium (approximately 14% in the kidney and 44% in the liver) is bound to metallothionein when cadmium is administered for 7 weeks in the diet and via osmotic minipumps to selenium-deficient rats. Feeding rats the same diet supplemented with 1.0 ppm selenium results in no detectable cadmium-metallothionein peak in the kidney, and only about 10% of the cytosolic cadmium elutes as cadmium bound to metallothionein in the liver. In animals fed the selenium-supplemented diet, the bulk of the cadmium is recovered in the low-molecular weight fraction. Dietary selenium did not significantly affect the distribution of zinc and copper in the kidney or liver.