THE EFFECTS OF CADMIUM EXPOSURE ON ETHANOL PHARMACOKINETICS

Twenty-four adult male rats were exposed in the home cage to water con taining 100 ppm added cadmium chloride. An additional 24 animals were pair-watered with water containing no added cadmium. Following 60 days of exposure to their respective watering regimens, one third of the a nimals in each exposure group (N = 8/condition) received IP injections of 1.0, 2.0, or 3.0 g/kg ethanol (20% v/v). Serum alcohol concentrati ons were measured at 15, 30, 60, 120, 180, 240, and 360 min postinject ion. Although serum alcohol concentrations increased with dose for bot h cadmium-exposed and control animals, there was no indication at any dose of group differences. The lack of differences in ethanol pharmaco kinetics reported here is instructive with respect to improving our un derstanding of the mechanisms underlying cadmium/ethanol interactions.