MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN THE CARDIAC STRUCTURE OF PREGNANT RATS UNDER CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO CADMIUM CHLORIDE, ALONE OR COMBINED WITH COPPER OR ZINC SUCCINATES

• Published in: Актуальні проблеми сучасної медицини: Вісник Української медичної стоматологічної академії Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 180 - 185
• Main Authors: Shatorna, V. F., Lomyha, L. L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 29.05.2025
• ISSN: 2077-1096; 2077-1126
• DOI: 10.31718/2077-1096.25.2.180

Relevance. Environmental pollution by heavy metals, particularly cadmium, remains a pressing concern, especially in industrial regions. Despite growing awareness, research on the effects of cadmium exposure on the maternal heart during pregnancy, its impact on embryogenesis, and its interactions with essential trace elements is still limited. This gap hinders a comprehensive understanding of the antagonistic behavior of divalent metal ions. In this study, we examined the effects of cadmium chloride, administered both in isolation and in combination with copper or zinc succinate, on the cardiac structure of pregnant rats on the 13th and 20th days of gestation to assess the degree of cadmium-induced cardiotoxicity and to evaluate the potential protective (antagonistic) properties of copper and zinc succinates during chronic exposure. Objective: To investigate morphological changes in the heart of pregnant female rats following chronic administration of cadmium chloride alone and in combination with copper or zinc succinates. Materials and methods. 64 female rats were divided into 4 experimental groups: control, isolated administration of cadmium chloride at a dose of 2 mg/kg, 2 groups of combined administration of cadmium chloride at a dose of 2 mg/kg and zinc succinate at a dose of 5 mg/kg or copper succinate at a dose of 0.1 mg/kg. During surgical slaughter, the hearts were removed, fixed and embedded in paraplast for histological studies. On histological sections, we measured the thickness of the myocardium in the middle part of the ventricles and atria, as well as the thickness of the interventricular septum. Results. In the group of rats exposed to isolated administration of cadmium chloride, a decrease in the average values of the thickness of the ventricular myocardium and the interventricular septum of the heart was observed at both stages of pregnancy, while in the group of combined administration of cadmium chloride with zinc succinate, the average values of the thickness of the ventricular myocardium and the interventricular septum tended to recover towards the control values. Notably, in the group of combined administration, a significant decrease in the average values of the thickness of the ventricular myocardium and the interventricular septum was unexpectedly observed not only in relation to the control group, but also to the group of isolated administration and were the lowest among all experimental groups. Conclusions. Cadmium chloride at a dose of 2 mg/kg has a pronounced toxic effect on the heart condition of pregnant rats during chronic administration. The simultaneous effect of cadmium chloride with copper succinate also indicates significant intoxication of the heart muscle of the rats, as it enhances the tendency to reduce the average values of the thickness of the ventricular myocardium and the interventricular septum, while with the combined administration of cadmium chloride with zinc succinate, we observed a restoration of the average values of the thickness of the myocardium of the specified heart structures towards the control ones, i.e. zinc succinate has pronounced bioantagonistic properties with respect to the cardiotoxicity of cadmium chloride during a chronic experiment on pregnant female rats.