Evaluation of Estrogenic Activity of Cadmium to Mice in Organic and Molecular Level

Cadmium, as an inorganic pollutant, its toxic effects on mammals were widely studied, while less attention was paid on its endocrine disrupting effects. In this paper, the effects of CdCl₂ on mice uterine-ovary wet weight, modulation of ER (estrogen receptors) mRNA level and their relation were studied. It showed that uterus-ovary wet weight, the expression of ERα (α subtype) and ERβ (β subtype) were of significant difference in 930μg/kg·bw CdCl₂ dosing group compared with the control. However, only up-regulation of ERβ was detected in 9.3μg/kg-bw CdCl₂ dosing group. It suggested that the high expression of ERβ might protect mice from increasing of uterus-ovary wet weight. For CdCl₂ estrogenic activity, the ER expression mechanism and ER-responsive elements pathway need further examination.