CADMIUM-INDUCED RENAL DYSFUNCTION WAS IMPROVED BY TREATING HEPATIC-INJURY WITH GLYCYRRHIZIN

Cadmium-induced renal dysfunction has been regarded as perpetually agg ravated and incurable. However, our long-term experiments on seven mal e rabbits clearly demonstrated that, despite the renal cadmium being s ufficiently high, cadmium-induced renal dysfunction was curative follo wing intravenous glycyrrhizin (Strong Neo-Minophagen C(R)) administrat ion, as a result of decreasing plasma cadmium-thionein through allevia ting of the destruction of hepatic cells. There were improvements of t he hepatic injury, depressed plasma cadmium, elevated plasma urea nitr ogen and glucosuria, regardless of continued heavy exposure to cadmium . Cessation of the glycyrrhizin administration in one rabbit, however, again led to aggravation of cadmium-induced hepatic injury and renal dysfunction when heavy exposure to cadmium was successively applied to the animal. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.