Ultrastructural observations on rabbit blastocysts after maternal exposure to cadmium chloride

Cadmium chloride (CdCl2) (0.1 or 1.0%) was given in the drinking water to pregnant rabbits on Days 0 to 5 of gestation. Electron microscopy of the blastocysts revealed significant changes in the lysosomes (e.g. autophagic vacuoles and residual bodies) of endodermal cells as well as those of the inner cell mass. No such changes were evident in the trophoblast.