Alteration of renal amino acid transport system in cadmium-intoxicated rats.

Effects of cadmium intoxication on renal transport systems for various amino acids were studied. Subcutaneous injections of CdCl2, at a dose of 2 mg Cd/kg.day for 2 weeks, resulted in polyuria, proteinuria, glycosuria, phosphaturia, and aminoaciduria, as observed in chronic cadmium-intoxicated humans and experimental animals. The nature of aminoaciduria was nonspecific, including iminoacid as well as almost all species of neutral, acidic, and basic amino acids. In renal cortical brush border membrane vesicles isolated from cadmium-intoxicated rats, Na(+)-dependent transport of L-proline, L-alanine, and L-lysine was markedly attenuated, whereas the amino acid transport in the basolateral membrane vesicle was not significantly affected. Similar results were obtained in the normal membrane vesicles directly exposed to inorganic cadmium. These results indicate that cadmium intoxication impairs various Na(+)-amino acid cotransport systems in the renal brush border membrane, which leads to panaminoaciduria.