Objective To explore the interaction between iron & zinc levels in body fluid and cadmium (Cd) induced nephrotoxicity through occupational respiratory exposure.
Methods The biomarkers of Cd exposureblood cadmium (BCd) and urinary cadmium (UCd), Cd nephrotoxicityurinary β2-microglobulin (Uβ2-MG), urinary albumin (UALB) and urinary N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (UNAG), and iron & zinc levelsblood zinc (BZn), urinary zinc (UZn), hemoglobin (Hb), serum ferritin (SF) and serum transferrin receptor (sTfR) in the body fluid of 103 Cd-exposed workers and 36 controls randomly selected were measured respectively and the relationships between them were analyzed.
Results Compared with the control group, the contents of BCd, UCd, Uβ2-MG and UALB elevated in the cadmium exposed workers. UNAG, Uβ2-MG and UALB showed positive association with UCd in a dose-dependent manner. Hb and SF decreased in the exposed group, and the prevalence of anemia increased. Although there was no statistical difference in BZn and UZn between the exposed and control groups, a positive correlation between UZn and UCd existed.
Conclusion The results suggest that occupational exposure to Cd can result in a decrease of iron storage in body and an increase of anemia prevalence. Excretion of UZn will increase if Cd accumulates to a certain degree in body.
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