Morphological and pathological effects of cadmium ingestion on Pekin ducksexposed to saline

This study examined the effects of simultaneous exposure to saline and cadm ium (Cd) on organ mass and histology of a bird with salt glands, the Pekin duck, Anas platyrhynchos. Three mixed-sex groups, each containing 6 birds, ate duck pellets containing 0, 50, or 300 mug Cd/g, respectively, for 4 1/2 mo and drank 300 mM NaCl. Only females on the high-Cd diet lost body mass. Ingestion of Cd reduced heart mass in females. There was increased mass of Harderian and salt glands in both sexes. Mass of kidneys and liver increas ed only in males, and the gut mass (also length) increased more in males. C admium ingestion also induced (1) inflammation of renal interstitium and de generative tubular changes, (2) marked degenerative changes in testes, (3) increased heart water content, (4) decreased cytoplasmic volume of liver ce lls, (5) reduced proportion of basophilic granular cells in chromaffin tiss ue of the adrenal glands, and (6) in the ileum, increased heterophilia in t he lamina propria and, only in females, the apoptosis to mitosis ratio in c rypt cells of the epithelium. The ducks' outward appearance gave no indicat ion that ingesting large amounts of cadmium for 4 1/2 mo produced deleterio us effects, but the physiological consequences were profound. Both sexes ha d greatly reduced gonadal mass and the males produced no sperm. The higher dietary level greatly hypertrophied the liver, kidneys, and gut only in mal es. The cadmium-induced changes in organs, particularly in the gonads, kidn eys, and adrenal glands, should greatly impair the health and reproductive capacity of these ducks.