Abstract
The critical Cd exposure level to induce tubular dysfunctions is a focus of public concern among general populations in Japan. To answer this question, one group each (about 1000 adult women/area) in nonpolluted areas with high (Area H) and low Cd exposure (Area L) was obtained, and 742 strictly age-matched pairs of never-smoking adult women were selected for comparison. Cd, α1-MG (microglobulin) and β2-MG in urine were taken as markers of exposure and tubular dysfunction, respectively. Geometric mean Cd levels as corrected for creatinine (Cdcr) was greater than three times higher in Area H (2.8 μg/g cr) than in Area L (0.8 μg/g cr). Nevertheless, β2-MGcr did not differ between the two areas (125 μg/g cr for Area H vs 118 μg/g cr for Area L). α1-MGcr was only marginally higher in Area H (2.8 mg/g cr) than in Area L (2.1 mg/g cr), with no biomedical significance. Results were essentially the same when analyses were conducted with noncorrected observed values or values corrected for a specific gravity. Thus, the effects of Cd exposure in Area H on renal tubular function should be essentially nil.
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Ikeda, M., Ezaki, T., Moriguchi, J. et al. No meaningful increase in urinary tubular dysfunction markers in a population with 3μg cadmium/g creatinine in urine. Biol Trace Elem Res 113, 35–44 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1385/BTER:113:1:35
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/BTER:113:1:35