3. Cadmium
After absorption Cd enters the blood and binds to erythrocyte
membranes, blood albumin or MTs and distributes throughout the
body. To a much less extent, it can also bind to —SH groups containing
proteins such as glutathione and cysteine (Zalups and Ahmad,
2003). After acute Cd intoxication, Cd mainly enters the liver making
it the critical organ of short-term Cd exposure. With long-term exposure,
Cd induces MT synthesis in a number of tissues. Cadmium
binds to these small proteins and is transported to the kidneys in
which it is filtered through the glomerular membrane, reabsorbed
into proximal tubular cells and deposited in the kidneys. Hence,
kidney is considered as the critical organ of toxicity after long term
exposure to Cd (Nordberg and Nordberg, 2000). Thus, the ability of
Cd to trigger adverse effects in blood, liver and kidneys via oxidative
stress induction will be discussed in detail.