Cadmium in drinking water modifies the cellular activity of pituitary gland associated with changes in mRNA of prolactin and phospholipase D.

CALDERONI, ANA MARÍA; BIAGGIO, VERÓNICA; ACOSTA, MARIANO; FILIPPA, VERÓNICA; OLIVEROS, LILIANA; GIMENEZ, MARÍA SOFÍA; MOHAMED, FABIAN

Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires.

Jornada; X Jornadas Anuales de la Sociedad Argentina de Biología.; 2008

Sociedad Argentina de Biología

Cadmium (Cd) is widely used in industrial applications and is an important contaminant of agricultural products. As an endocrine disruptor, Cd modifies the pituitary hormone release. We have shown that serum prolactin and phospholipase D (PLD) activity in the rat pituitary gland are decreased after Cd treatment. Now, our objective was to determine the morphological changes provoked by the 15 ppm Cd in drinking water during two months, in the pituitary gland, in adult Wistar male rat At the end of the treatment, the glands were dissected and fixed by stand methods and submitted to immuhistochemical and morphometric analysis. Cd induced a decreases in the number of lactotroph (PRL-ir) and an increases in the number of folliculo-stellate (S-100-ir) and apoptotic cells (Hoechst reactive). The RNA of pituitary gland was extracted (using TRIZOL) to determine the gene expression of prolactin and PLD by RT-PCR. The mRNA levels of prolactin and PLD were decreased by Cd treatment in relation to the controls. These agree with the serum prolactin and PLD activity previously found in our laboratory. Cd modifies the cellular activity of pituitary gland.