Abstract
The effect of N-tetramethylene dithiocarbamate (ATC) as a chelating agent on the excretion of cadmium was evaluated in cadmium-poisoned Wistar rats following administration through food and drink. The present research aimed to characterize the potential efficiency of ATC as an orally administered chelator drug after cadmium administration for 60 days. This chelator significantly enhanced the urinary and biliary excretion of cadmium and restored the altered levels of iron. Cadmium and iron concentrations in different tissues were determined by graphite furnace and flame atomic absorption spectrometry (GF AAS and F AAS) methods, respectively. The chelation therapy results show that ATC is able to remove cadmium ions from different tissues while iron concentration returned to the normal level and the clinical symptoms were also reduced. In summary, we conclude that ATC is able to mobilize and promote the excretion of cadmium in rat organs and reduce the side effects and general symptoms of toxicity caused by cadmium and might be useful for preliminary testing of the efficacy of chelating agents in human body. However, these results should be confirmed in different experimental models before extrapolation to other systems. This testing procedure of course does not provide all the relevant answers for evaluating the efficiency of chelating agents in cadmium toxicity.