Effects of Cadmium on Cellular and Subcellular Structures of Cerebellar Purkinje Cells in Four-Day Postnatal Developing Rat

Purpose: This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of Cd on cellular and subcellular aspects of cerebellar Purkinje cells in developing rats. Materials and methods: forty adult female Wistar rats served as subjects in this experiment. The animals were assigned randomly to four groups: control I, control II, experiment I and experiment II. The experiment group I and II were injected intraperitoneally with 3mg/kg cadmium chloride solution on day 8 and 16 of pregnancy. Whereas the control group I and II were injected intraperitoneally with normal saline on day 8 and 16 of pregnancy, respectively. After delivery, the four-day postnatal (PN4) neonate rats of different four groups were perfused intracardially with 2.5% fixative glutaraldehide solution. After appropriate procedures, the histological slides were examined by light and electron microscopy. Then the number of Purkinje cells was counted; cellular and subcellular characteristics of Purkinje cells were evaluated. Results: Our quantitative data showed that there is a significant reduction in the number of cerebellar Purkinje cells in experiment group I and Comparing with control group I (P1<0.000) and (P2<0.005) Also, the number of Purkinje cells significantly diminished in experiment group I comparing with experiment group H (P<0.005).On the other hand, the qualitative microscopic assessment of the specimens showed considerable changes such as Purkinje cells deaths, heterochromatin nuclei, unclear nucleolus, deterioration of mitochondrial membrane and cristae, formation of numerous abnormal vacuoles in mitochondria and separated particles of cytoplasm with cellular components in experiment groups. Conclusion: The present experiment clearly identifies cadmium as a toxic metal poison in rat embryos. Our findings lead us to conclude that presence of cadmium during pregnancy period; not only induces negative growth effects on neonate rat, but also causes degenerative changes and diminishes the number of Purkinje cells in cerebellum.