ABSTRACT
The acute effects of metallothionein-bound cadmium may furnish an explanation of the mechanism of the chronic renal effects. Acute exposure to cadmium bound to low molecular weight ligands has been used in several studies as a model system for assessing the mechanism of chronic cadmium toxicity. Acute exposure to high concentrations of cadmium oxide fumes has mainly caused severe lung damage. The dose-effect relationship for the acute renal effects is such that humans only risk acute effects after high accidental or intentional ingestion of a cadmium salt. As the urinary cadmium may increase as a sign of the renal tubular damage, it is not possible to interpret relationships between urinary cadmium and occurence of proteinuria as true dose-response relationships. The study by C. G. Elinder and co-workers was unusual in that it clearly presented the individual variation of sensitivity to cadmium among the animals.
