Pathology of experimentally induced cadmium chloride toxicity in Wistar rats

The present study was carried out to evaluate the pathomorphological changes in various organs of 48 Wistar rats administered with cadmium chloride @200, 400 and 800 ppm, respectively, in drinking water in groups II, III and IV for 8 weeks while group I rats were served as control. Six randomly selected rats from each group were sacrificed at 4 and 8 weeks post exposure. The lesions were characterized by pin point haemorrhages on liver, congestion and grey hepatization of lungs and congestion in kidneys, brain and spleen.The main target organs affected were liver, kidneys, lungs, spleen and brain. The intensity and distribution of such lesions were found more severe in rats of group IV followed by group III and II rats in dose and duration dependent manner while control group rats revealed normal appearance of these organs at all intervals.